A Father's Love
by HeartCurl23
Summary: Sebastian and Claude are enemies, this is common knowledge. Their daughters, however, are anything but. Fathers think that they know everything, but are shocked to learn a lesson of loyalty from their own children. (There are two oc's. There are most likely mistakes. Please point them out to me if you catch any. Rated T for language.)
1. Early Years

**(f/d)-Daughter of Claude Faustus and Angela Blanc, girlfriend to Ronald Knox. Turns into a dog. Hair and eye color optional**

**(m/d)-Daughter of Sebastian Michaelis and Grell Surtcliff, girlfriend to Finnian. Turns into a cat. Hair color optional, eye color green(ish)**

**Also, Grell is written as a girl, but mentioned as a guy in some dialouge. If you think Grell is a girl, forget about that dialouge. If you think Grell is a guy, you're outta luck.**

Prologue: Early Years

(f/d) climbed in the bed happily, her father, Claude Faustus, close behind. Once the girl was under the covers, Claude tucked the covers under her small, young form. "Is that warm enough?" he asked.

"Yes daddy." She replied with a giggle.

As the father gazed at his peaceful daughter, he smiled a little as he connected his index fingers to his thumbs and started singing softly, but intensely and playfully, "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout~"

The girl smiled widely as she joined him in the little dance and song. "Down came the rain and washed the spider out~! Up came the sun and dried up all the rain~! And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again~!"

The two chuckled as Claude re-secured the blankets under her. "Daddy," she asked, looking up at him with her (e/c) eyes. "Why do we call that our theme song?"

"Because it shows that us, spiders, won't ever let rain completely wash us out. We patiently wait for the sun to dry it all up before we try again." Claude explained. "Basically, we never give up."

Just before Claude reached for the candles, she sat up. "Daddy," she started before he smiled a little, adjusting his glasses. "…What big eyes you have."

With a growing smile, he took off his square glasses, replacing them with a larger round pair. "The better to see you with, my dear." He chuckled while zooming the glasses in and out between himself and the girl.

With another little laugh, Claude kissed (f/d) on the head softly. "Goodnight my little puppy." He stated while patting her head playfully. "Sweet dreams sweetie."

Across London, (m/d) snuggled her way under the sheets, her own father, Sebastian Michaelis, pulling the blankets to her chin. "Daddy!" she shouted. "Where is he?!" Concern dripped from her tone.

At first, Sebastian was confused, but then smiled and reached behind his back. He then pulled out a soft pink and white teddy bear the size of an average adult's forearm. "You mean this?"

The girl reached out to the bear and hugged it close. "(teddy bear's name)!" She smiled and laid in the bed, the bear tight in her grip.

Sebastian gazed at her with a smile as she snuggled close to the bear she valued so much, then a thought came to his mind. "(m/d)…" he stated with a playful turn of his voice. When she looked up, his smile only widened. "You better hope the Tickle Monster doesn't get you!" At the word 'tickle', Sebastian zoomed in and tickled her, causing her to roar in laughter.

"Daddy!" she giggled. "S-stop it!" After some more laughs, she found the breath to say, "I'm losing my defenses for the REAL tickle monster!"

Sebastian stopped tickling her and their laughter died down to a few chuckles. "I'll protect you from the real tickle monster." He promised with a smile. "No monster, from the tickle monster to the boogie man, come all hell and high water, no monster of any kind would even think of hurting you."

"Really?"

"If they do somehow get past me AND your mother, I will hunt them down and punish them so you'd never be in danger of any kind again." They both smiled as (m/d) laid back down in the bed and Sebastian re-tucked her in.

"…daddy," she sighed just before he left the bed side. "Will you tell me a bed time story?"

The man smiled before sitting back down, turning to face her slightly. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl with a red hood…"

It wasn't long before (m/d) was fast asleep and Sebastian gave her a small kiss to her head, whispering softly to her, "If I couldn't protect my only daughter from the evil wolf that tried to hurt her, what kind of father would I be?" He left the room with a genuine smile to his only daughter.

Leaning against the door frame, with a curled smile, was a woman with long red hair. "She in bed?" Sebastian nodded as he closed the door. Grell gazed at the closed door in wonder. "It's only going to get harder, you know."

"…Whatever do you mean?"

"When she gets older, it'll be hard on you to see your daughter go to Reaper High in a few centuries."

Hearing this, Sebastian froze. "…What makes you think she'll be a reaper, not a demon?" he asked. "She clearly has my potential."

"Don't make me laugh, dear Bassy." Grell chuckled. "She has MY eyes, MY eyesight, she WILL be a reaper."

Sebastian chuckled humorlessly. "…We shall see…"


	2. Separate Demons

Chapter 1: Separate Demons

10 centuries later…

(f/d) entered in the room, arms crossed as she leaned against the doorway. "So, 'dad', I hear you're someone else's bitch."

Claude simply stood there in the center of the room and gazed at her blankly before sighing. "It is technically impossible for me to be…as you say…'a bitch'. Don't you have your own master to tend to?"

"I took care of him a year ago. Keep up with the times."

"…You finally decided to eat." He stated with a grin. "That boy had his contract fulfilled a decade ago."

To this, (f/d) ripped her arms apart. "I was STARVING!" she screamed. "How else was I supposed to eat?!"

"I hear villagers have fine souls that could satisfy you for a few days." The teen sneered at her father's smart ass response and stormed out. "Where are you going?"

"Out!"

(f/d) didn't notice Claude's eyes drift to the floor. "…(f/d)…" he sighed. "…What happened to us?"

In the Reaper Training Facility, (m/d) stood straight, the instructor in the front of the room giving a lecture, as always. "Mr. William," a boy beside her stated. "When do we get our own scythes?"

"You will be able to use higher graded Death Scythes as you collect more souls. The more difficult the soul, the higher the upgrade." He answered dully before returning to his lesson.

(m/d) gazed over at the boy. He had messy black hair and the typical green eyes behind his basic, new recruit glasses. His suit wasn't buttoned; instead it was opened to fully show the front of the buttoned vest, which had his black tie tucked under. She cleared her purple glasses to be sure she was seeing the boy correctly. To her eyes, the sight of the boy made her slightly blush.

"Ms. Michaelis!" a voice snapped her from her thoughts. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't drift off."

"Sorry Uncle Will-I mean-Mr. William." She scrambled, not realizing she was drifting towards the boy until she was nearly falling. William gave her another hard look before continuing his lecture. (m/d) sighed as she lifted her eyes to him, also seeing Grell sitting in the corner with red nail polish. "Good." She breathed. "Mom didn't see me…or at least didn't notice me…looking at that boy. She'd have a fit!"

After class, (m/d) rushed out to the front to see Sebastian at the gate, arguing with other reapers on guard. "I'm telling you! I'm only here to pick up my daughter!"

"That's a rich story."

"Yeah, best one I've ever heard."

"DAD! Over here!" she shouted, waving her arms and catching the reapers' and Sebastian's attention.

The moment the three saw her, Sebastian grinned while the other two hung their mouths open. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he stated as he squeezed between the two reapers.

As the two left, Sebastian sighed. "How was school?"

"Fine."

"Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"You're very talkative today." He mumbled. "…Undertaker told me that he wants you to visit with him while I finish my work."

"Fine."

"…Humans say nothing rhymes with orange, but nothing and orange don't rhyme at all."

"What?"

"You ARE paying attention." Sebastian smiled victoriously as they passed the Undertaker. "I'll see after work."

(m/d) crossed her arms. "I don't need a babysitter." She grumbled as she entered the building, being greeted with nothing but coffins. "…Hello?" she called before she sighed. "I know you're here Uncle! I'm too old for this game!" When there was no response, she opened the only coffin that was standing and crossed her arms at the residence.

Inside was a tall man with long silvery white hair that also covered his eyes. He was dressed in all black and grey, and appeared to be dead. (m/d) just gazed at him unamused. "…Hey Uncle Undertaker."

"What gave me away?" he whined.

To this, she slumped as he climbed out of the coffin. "Uncle, you hide in the SAME EXACT coffin EVERY time I come to visit."

"Oh, you're no fun anymore." He grumbled humorously. "I liked it better when you called me 'Uncle Undy', at least then you laughed at my jokes and played my games."

"I was only 425 then. That was 1,176 years ago!"

"Just because you're 1,600, and you think you're all grown up, doesn't mean you can't have a laugh once in a while."

"I'm 1,601!" she corrected.

"One year makes no difference, my sweet." He chuckled, causing (m/d) to cross her arms. Undertaker straightened and sighed. "You mind helping me out for a bit? I need someone to bring back a body down the street a ways, and I need to stay here and check inventory. Would you get the body for me?"

"Fine. Just give me a ride or something so I'm not dragging some dead guy on the sidewalk." She answered.

"You know my price for one of those carriages."

The teen groaned and pouted a little before clearing her throat. "I told my dad to embrace his mistakes. He cried. Then he hugged me."

Undertaker chuckled a little, but shook his head. "You can do better than that with a father like yours, I know you can."

(m/d) thought for a moment before trying again. "I am more pissed off than a dragon trying to blow out candles."

He let out a hearty laugh before nodding. "Good enough. Don't take too long~!" With that, she got out the back and hooked up the black horse to the small carriage.

(f/d) was wandering the streets, kicking a rock just for something to look at, when she saw a girl struggle with what looked like a dead body. The girl was dragging the corps in a carriage labeled "Undertaker" across the side. Her (m/h/c) hair was shielding her face as she pulled and yanked the body across the stone. "Need some help?" (f/d) asked, causing the girl to stop and look up.

"N-no." she answered, looking into (f/d)'s (f/e/c) eyes with her (m/e/c) tinted green ones. As she shifted to corps to one arm, she used her temporarily free hand to adjust her purple glasses. "I got it."

Angel ignored her claim and grabbed the dead man's feet, lifting them and assisting in loading him in the carriage. "I haven't seen you around here before." The girl stated. "You live out in the country?"

"Something like that." (f/d) answered before dusting her hands and reaching out to shake hands. "(f/d) Faustus is the name."

The other girl took the hand and shook it a little before shutting the doors. "(m/d) Michaelis. Nice to meet you."

"I couldn't help but notice the sign on the carriage, are you the town's Undertaker?" (f/d) asked.

(m/d) chuckled a little before climbing up to the seat in the front. "No, not me. I'm just the Undertaker's niece."

The girl on the stone looked around before leaning in as close as she could to the teen on the carriage. "I don't think that guy is human."

Hearing this, she stopped untying the reins from the carriage and looked at her. "What makes you think that?" she asked. "Of course my uncle's a human."

"I see him at…places…" she answered. "…Places I've seen you at…"

'Creepy.' (m/d) thought, but kept her polite smile. "I'm not sure where you could've seen me at, I mean-"

"I know you're a reaper." She blurted out. "I've seen you and your 'uncle' at that training facility. Also, your eyes and glasses are a dead giveaway."

"I'm not a Grim Reaper!" (m/d) exclaimed.

"You're also not human!"

"How would you know?!"

"I'm not human either!"

Hearing this, it silently clicked. "Who did you say your parents were again?" (m/d) asked.

"I never said my dad's name, and I'm not going to." (f/d) replied. "My dad's a dick. He can't even teach me to be a demon right."

(m/d) sighed. "Yeah, my mom's a bitch too." She chuckled a little. "One of my uncles is dull, the other is a child, and my dad…well…I can't say much bad about my dad. I mean, he is one hell of a dad."

(f/d) chuckled. "My dad thinks he's one hell of a dad, but he's not even close."

The reaper smiled a little. "Maybe we can hang out some time."

"Sure." The demon stated. "Sounds fun."


	3. Secrets Bloom

Chapter 2: Secrets Bloom

As the months flew by, (m/d) and (f/d) became close friends, though they never talked about each other's parents or families before. They built a secret club house cabin (more like a wooden room with a log bench and fire pit) in the middle of the forest at the end of a path of hidden skulls and various bones; only the girls could recognize the path and follow it, no demon, reaper, or even angel could follow them without an invitation.

One December day, (f/d) and (m/d) were decorating the cabin for Christmas with whatever they could spare from their homes or find from the forest. As they loaded the tree with colored pine cones, (m/d) decided to break the ice a little. "You remember when we met; you said you've seen me and my uncles before at the training facility?"

"Yeah," (f/d) commented. "I remember, why?"

"Why were you AT the facility in the first place?"

The demon paused in thought, wondering how to answer, before she bit her lip. "…Okay…This is just between the two of us, right?"

The reaper nodded, using her long red nails to mark an "X" over her heart. "Cross my heart, hope to die,"

"Stick a paw in my eye." Both girls finished, covering one eye with one of their hands that was shaped like a paw.

(f/d) took in a deep breath before she finished her answer. "You most likely know more about this guy than I do, hell, I don't even know his name, but about three years ago, I saw him. He was out at my house by my dad's master's father. When he finished whatever he was doing, I followed him back to the facility disguised as a dog. I've been visiting the facility ever since."

"What does he look like?" (m/d) asked. "Maybe I know him."

Instantly, the demon melted a little from the thought of the reaper in question. "He had the green eyes that all reapers have, big black glasses, black gloves, and short blond hair with some black in it."

(m/d) grinned after a moment of matching faces with names in her head. "You're talking about Ronald Knox." She stated. "He sometimes subs for my class when my uncle and mom have to do overtime."

"So, since we're talking about each other's personal lives (finally), you never exactly told me if you have a boyfriend. You know I like Ronald, what about you?" (f/d) stated, quickly switching the spotlight.

(m/d) sighed dreamily as she thought of her boyfriend. "My boyfriend is a guy that works with my dad. He's cute, funny, sweet, mega ultra-strong, and just fun to be around."

"What's his name?" (f/d) asked.

The reaper blushed a little before giggling, "Finnie."

The demon smiled and nodded. "He sound's really great." The other teen nodded before (f/d) thought for a moment. "What about your dad?" All happy-go-lucky feelings were thrown out the window the moment parents were mentioned. "Come on." The demon girl insisted. "I'll talk about mine if you talk about yours."

(m/d) sighed before she answered. "Fine. There's not that much to tell. My dad's just…a guy that's working as a butler for Earl Phantomhive."

"…Phantomhive?" she asked as (m/d) nodded. "My dad's in a similar bind." She chuckled. "Of course, my dad's a demon and yours is…"

"Not your dad." She stated.

(f/d) sighed. "…Not my dad." She repeated. "My dad's a butler too." She stated. "He drives me nuts sometimes, with all his spider references. He's a spider, he keeps spiders in the manner, even his new brat has the nickname 'Spider'. The Stupid Spider Trancy."

"…Trancy?" (m/d) asked as (f/d) nodded. "…I feel like I've heard that name before…"

(f/d) shrugged. "Well, it's probably nothing."

"…Yeah…"

One night, about a month or so later, when (f/d) returned home, she let her mind wander as she wandered the estate. "Something I can help you with?" someone asked, entering the room.

The teen was startled before she saw who it was and sighed. "Hey Hannah."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

She looked up at her before she turned away. "I told you about (m/d), right?" Hannah nodded. "And you remember this is just between us? My dad doesn't hear what's outside this room?"

"Yes. Claude does not and will not hear about your friend from me."

(f/d) was silent for a moment. "…(m/d) has everything. She has a dad who actually loves her, a mom that cares about her, uncles that care too, and I don't have any of that."

"Your father loves you." Hannah reassured. "With all his heart, he does."

"He has a funny way of showing it." She grumbled.

"You also have me." The maid stated. "I love you, as if you were my own daughter." With that she hugged her as another thought came into (f/d)'s mind…she never knew her birth mother.

Later that night, after Alois was fast asleep, (f/d) came up to Claude, biting her lip in anxiety. She hasn't asked about her mother in centuries, since she was just a little girl. Now, here she was with more questions that she was unsure whether her father was willing to answer or not. "…Dad," she called, causing him to turn around and face her.

"Yes (f/d)?" he asked, facing her fully.

"…Can you tell me what mom was like?"

Instantly, Claude's eyes widened and one could easily tell he was shocked and caught off guard from the question. "…Why do you ask?" It was obvious he was trying to stay calm.

"You never told me anything about her." She reasoned. "You never even told me if she was a demon, human, reaper, or even an ANGEL for all I know!"

The demon's eyes averted her as he sneered. "I told you precisely what you needed to know." He answered. "She was killed not long after you were born. Once I found out she died, I hunted you down and was your father ever since."

"So you're not my birth father?" she asked.

"Of course I'm your birth father!"

"Then why did you sound like I was adopted?"

"When your mother was pregnant with you, things were very complicated!" he exclaimed, starting to lose his closure. "I couldn't be there when you were born, so your mother took care of you until the day she died. I knew of you, that you existed, so I took on the title of your father. Does that satisfy you?"

"No!" (f/d) exclaimed. "It doesn't!"

"Well, I'm sorry to say that it's all you'd hear from me on the subject." Claude informed, closing the conversation as he tensely left the room.

The next day, (m/d) and (f/d) made their way through the forest, following the same path that led to their club house. Little did (m/d) know that Bardroy was watching as she disappeared in the trees. "I should tell somebody." He whispered to himself. "(m/d)'s been going over there for a few months now…I wonder if Sebastian knows…she IS his daughter after all." With that, he silently followed her through the thick trees, which only grew denser as he went further down the path.

When the girls made it to the club house, (m/d) noticed something off about her friend. "What's wrong pup?" she asked as she closed the door behind her, not noticing the blond peeking in the window. "You seem kinda down."

"It's my stupid dad." She complained, plopping on the bench after throwing sticks in the fire pit. "He won't tell me ANYTHING about my mom! It's like she did something so unspeakably horrible to him that he can't even tell me her name! I HATE IT in that stupid mansion!"

The reaper felt fairly helpless to her troubled friend. "Why not talk to someone else? I'm sure your dad's not the only one that lives in the Trancy Estate."

"…Trancy's?" Bard breathed to himself.

"Besides," (m/d) continued. "Who does your dad think he is?"

"Claude Faustus." (f/d) answered distastefully. "The biggest douche ever."

"…Claude…Claude…" Bard repeated in his head. "…That name sounds familiar."

"Claude Faustus?!" (m/d) exclaimed. "THAT'S your dad?!"

(f/d) looked at her confused. "Yeah, why?"

"…My dad is Sebastian Michaelis." The reaper explained.

The other demon looked at her sideways. "You're dad's Sebastian Michaelis?" (m/d) nodded. "1,648 years, and I've never even heard of a Demon Reaper."

"We're getting off the subject!"

"Sorry."

After some silence, the demon reaper bit her lip. "My dad said some really shitty things about your dad."

To this, the Faustus demon chuckled. "I have no doubt any of that's not true." The cook backed away from the window as quietly as he could before he bolted down the path. "Well, our dads are, like, mortal enemies." She summed up. "What do we do now?"

The question hit (m/d) like a ton of bricks that fell from the sky square on top of her head. "I…don't know." She answered truthfully. "One thing's for sure, this is just all the more reason we should keep this a secret from our parents."

"Right." (f/d) agreed without a second's hesitation. "But most importantly," she added. "we stay friends."

"Of course." The reaper nodded. "We stay honest,"

"Loyal,"

"And, of course, stay together." They both completed with a smile before crossing their hearts and covering their eyes with their paw hands.

"We stay friends," (m/d) stated before they both opened their mouths and completed the thought.

"Forever."


	4. Busted

Chapter 3: Busted

Once Bardroy made it back to the manner, he didn't hesitate to tell Sebastian everything he heard. The butler took in a deep breath before he responded to Bard's update. "How long did you say she's been sneaking out?" he asked.

"I've been seeing her go in the forest for a few months now." Bardroy answered. "I'm not sure how long she's known her friend."

"And you're SURE you heard the name of the other girl's father correctly?"

Bard nodded. "Yup, Claude Faustus, the Trancy butler."

Sebastian sneered in disgust before he stormed out of the manner, huffing out a quick, "Take care of the master while I'm gone." before disappearing in the woods.

It wasn't long at all before Sebastian made it to the Trancy Estate and knocked on the door. When the large door opened to reveal the golden eyes and wavy black hair that could only belong the Claude Faustus himself, Sebastian couldn't help himself from raising his hand and bitch slapping him across the face before he had the chance to say, "How may I help you this afternoon?"

"You and your little MUT better stay AWAY from my kitten." Sebastian growled.

"I assure you, I don't know what you're talking about." Claude stated, taking off his now crocked glasses and fiddling with them in his gloved hands.

"Bardroy told me everything." He stated. "He followed a path which only humans and the creators of the path can follow. He saw your daughter poisoning my daughter's mind."

"Accuse me all you'd like," the Trancy butler sighed, placing his glasses on his face again. "It still doesn't change the fact that I have no knowledge of these meetings. All I can promise you is that I'll talk to my daughter about it; explain to her who is good company and who is not." At Sebastian's silence, Claude continued. "Sugar into Salt, Secrets into Common Knowledge, Blindness into Sight. That's what makes a Trancy Butler."

Sebastian sighed heavily before looking at him. "A father can say what he likes, but at the end of the day, we are simply our children's guides. As much as we'd like to call them puppies and kittens, they are truly most like spiders; the harder you try to separate them from something the more they tend to cling to it. It still does not mean we won't guide them away from each other."

"This is a historic day." Claude smiled slightly. "Something we both agree on that fully benefits us both."

Just before Sebastian left, he turned to Claude. "Sorry about slapping you, it was very uncivilized of me." He stated. "Some ice should sooth it nicely." With that, he descended in the forest to return to his own manner.

Not even until Claude had the chance to shut the door, he saw (f/d) come out of the forest and drag herself in the house. "Hey dad." She groaned, dragging her feet past the thresh hold and up the stairs.

"(f/d)!" Claude called. "We need to talk."

"Dad, it was a long hike to get here, and-"

"I know about Sebastian's daughter." Just like that, (f/d)'s eyes shot wide open and she gazed into the golden eyes she's seen throughout her life. "I know you've been conversing with her, becoming close to her, gaining her trust."

"…How?" the teen asked in a low, serious tone.

"Does it matter how I know?" he asked right back. "I know she's been telling you her secrets, her father's weakness', secrets of great value which she trusts to few others."

(f/d) looked baffled. "No!" she exclaimed. "She never told me anything like that; she hasn't even started talking about her dad until earlier today! Even if she did, I wouldn't tell you! Not now, not EVER! Why do you always have to be so cruel?!" With that said, she marched up the steps.

"(f/d)!" Claude shouted before (f/d) had enough running on her two sore feet and shifted into a fluffy Shepard and bolted down the hall, essentially out running her father. When she made it to her room, she shifted back into her human form and slammed the door shut. Claude made it to her bedroom door just in time to her the clicking of locks.

Sebastian made it back to the Phantomhive manner in time to see (m/d) helping Meyrin polish the rail on the stairs. Without warning, the butler snatched (m/d)'s arm in a death grip and dragged her down the steps with many yelps of pain and protest against the action. "Ow! Dad! What's going on?!" she shouted in confusion and pain.

"You want to know what's going on?" he asked through gritted teeth before throwing (m/d) to the wall roughly. "You've been talking to Claude's daughter."

"What?!"

"You've been going behind my back, telling her everything!"

"No I haven't!"

"Well, you're NEVER going to see that girl again!" (m/d) was silent in shock from Sebastian's words. "Anyone associated with the Trancy's are bad friends to have. You'd be better off with no friends at all."

"…What?" (m/d) asked, still too shocked and baffled to say much else. "Just because I have one 'bad friend', you think I should give up on having friends at all?"

"Not just one bad friend." The father explained. "Your mother told me you've been slipping behind in Reaper Training classes. I might not approve to you being a Grim Reaper, but still. Slacking is slacking."

"Dad, I-"

"You are not to leave my sight, William's, Undertaker's, or your mother's, until further notice."

"DAD!" she whined, but she knew it was too late. The damage was already done. For the first time in 600 years, she was grounded for something as innocent as having a friend.

When her father said that she would be under super vision at all times, he wasn't joking. Sebastian spread it to Grell, William, and even Undertaker that (m/d) was grounded.

Every time she even reached in her pocket in class, William would snatch her wrist with his tool only to find that she would only be pulling out a pencil.

If she even touched a door in the Undertaker's, even if it was a door to a coffin, Undertaker would ask her where she was going, even if she had to say "the bathroom", he'd still ask.

The moment she'd even walk away from Sebastian, he'd follow her, even despite Ciel's protests against it.

As soon as she'd leave Grell's line of sight, she'd throw her chainsaw to land directly in front of her, blocking her path.

All in all, (m/d) was living in hell.

(f/d), on the other hand, was living a completely different hell.

She had to lock herself in her room day and night to avoid being questioned by Claude on how Michaelis' worked. Despite her efforts to avoid being questioned, Claude still came to the door, bribing her to come out and talk about her friend in exchange for fresh air, a young, knocked out soul with no more desires (mostly because it was usually a baby orphan who didn't live long enough to HAVE desires), and/or clean water. Though she was able to go with hardly any food, water, and no play time, her room was causing her to go crazy from boredom and loneliness.

After Hannah heard that Claude found out about everything, she pleaded innocent to (f/d), claiming she never told him, she had nothing to gain. Of course, the teen never believed her and just sat in her room day in and day out. Still, she knew she couldn't wait everything out for the rest of her eternal life.


	5. Drowning in Druitt

Chapter 4: Drowning in Druitt

As (m/d) wandered London with Sebastian and Ciel, it was painfully obvious she was Sebastian's daughter from how he kept her in his line of sight at all times. One man in particular saw (m/d) huffing and stomping in anger. The man was prone to overreact. "Such a beautiful maiden, trapped within the clutches of her beastly master (referring to Sebastian, not Ciel). Fear not, my beauty; I shall save you in armor that shines as brightly as our eternal love!" Just like that, he started sneaking by.

"Dad," (m/d) sighed. "Can I run in that store and get that hat? I've been saving my money for at least a decade!" (A/N: ...Wow... Butler trainee pay must suck for her)

Sebastian glanced at the store she referred to and thought for a moment before smiling at Ciel. "Master, is it alright if we stay out here so I may watch my daughter through the window?"

"Fine. We're not in a hurry anyway." The master stated monotony as (m/d) smiled and hugged her father before weaving through the crowd.

She was just about to pay for the hat she so much wanted before a man turned her around. This new face had long light blond hair and slanted purple eyes. As she looked him over, she noticed that either this guy was an angel (not a complement), or this guy just really liked the white and purple combo.

He ran one of his gloved hands through her (m/h/c) hair. "My, my, little kitten, why ever would you buy that hat?" he asked in a rude tone, but his voice hypnotized the teen in a way. "This is a hat that suits you much better." He stated, pulling out a hat twice the price.

(m/d) bit her lip and backed away. "No thank you." she stated. "I can't afford that one."

"No need!" the mystery man stated with a smile before giving the cashier the money needed for the hat in his hand.

(m/d) eyed the hat in the man's hand before smiling oddly. "I couldn't possibly accept this Mr.…"

"Chamber." He finished for her with a small bow. "Aleister Chamber, the Viscount Druitt."

"…Mr. Chamber," she repeated before clearing her throat. "I appreciate the thought, but I simply couldn't accept it."

"Of course you can." He insisted, placing the hat on her head. "See? You already look much better." As (m/d) gazed at her reflection in a nearby mirror, Aleister leaned in and smiled. "I'm fairly new to this side of London. Would you do me the honor of showing me around?"

Her green gaze flashed to the window Sebastian stood behind as his own red eyes glanced at passing people before returning to her in the crowd. "…You see, the thing is that my father is waiting for me just outside, and I need to get back to him."

"At least allow me to see to it that you have a proper dress to go with your new hat. It's the least a gentleman could do for a lovely little kitten such as yourself." Without warning, Aleister snatched her arm and pulled her to a back room.

When (m/d) took in a sniff of the room, she started to feel a little dizzy. "Do you smell something?" she asked. "It almost smells like knock…out…gas…" And she was out.

"Your senses are very acute, fair kitten." He smiled, picking up (m/d) and carrying her out the back way. "I sprayed a fair amount of perfume in there so you wouldn't smell the knock out gas. Applause to your heightened sense of smell."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes in worry as he scanned the crowd. He couldn't understand what took (m/d) so long to come out of the store. "…Master," he stated with slight worry showing. "May we enter that store? Just to be certain that (m/d) is alright."

"If you must, then I understand." Ciel sighed before taking the lead in the store.

The two entered the store, looking around in the crowd before an overly happy woman showed up from nowhere. From her plain attire, they assumed she was an employee. "May I help you two boys with something?"

"I'm looking for my daughter." Sebastian explained before Ciel had the chance to get out a sound. "Have you seen her? She's about this tall, (h/c) hair about this long, (e/c) green eyes, (f/c) glasses, was wearing a red shirt and black sweater and pants when she entered here," He continued the description as the woman smiled and nodded.

"I've seen her." She said happily. "She was headed over there with someone."

"Do you know who?" he asked hurriedly.

"Of course I do~! Who doesn't know the Viscount Druitt? Poor thing was being dragged off. Never saw her come out, maybe they're still in there, most likely having-"

"Thank you." the butler said in a hurry before he sprinted in the direction the woman pointed him in.

As he approached the door, Ciel rushing to catch up, he sniffed the air and stopped the young master from coming any closer. "What is it?" he asked.

"This room is highly polluted in knock out gas." Sebastian answered.

To this, Ciel was confused. "Aren't demons immune to knock out gas or something?"

The demon looked down at the boy. "Demons build up immunity to everything. I myself wasn't immune to this gas until I was a little younger than (m/d), and it still gives me headaches if I indulge in it. This room is over flowing in knock out gas."

The young Earl tilted his head in thought. "If we are truly against Druitt in this, then we need help."

Sebastian smiled. "Who better to ask than the mother?"

"Sorry, can't." Grell sighed when the two came to her for help and already explained the situation.

"(m/d) is your daughter too!" Ciel shouted loud enough to cause an echo. "You're her MOTHER!"

"I'm also a reaper." She added shamefully. "Though I am burning in anger and worry, Will already tied my hands in this matter. He laid down the neutral law, I can't intervene."

With that, Grell was pulled away by Will stating, "So sorry for (m/d). We'll keep a watchful eye out, and that's all we can do for now."

Sebastian stayed silent, sulking in the corner uncharacteristically. To this point, as the Phantomhive watched his butler, he started to grow afraid of this new, changed, not exactly improved Sebastian Michaelis. "Sebastian! I order you, STOP SULKING ALREADY!"

The butler turned to Ciel and nodded, brushing away any leaking fluids from his bold red puffy eyes. "Y-yes my Lord." He said shakily.

"I don't like this…this…parent side of you. Quite honestly, it scares me, makes me wonder if you can do your job correctly at all being a full time butler AND father. I pray you prove me wrong; I rather enjoy (m/d)'s company." Sebastian took in a silent, shaky breath before Ciel asked, "There has to be someone else who can help."

The demon glanced at the Earl "…There is one other option, but…you might not like it young master. I don't exactly care much for this idea myself." He informed, mumbling the last part to himself.

Ciel slouched his shoulders and sighed. "If it gets you to stop being so emotional, then I don't care."

"It would be wiser to go home and send them a letter instead of confronting them directly." Sebastian stated, already beginning to head to the Phantomhive manner.

"Why is that?" the boy Earl asked.

"…I struck their butler not too long ago; he might interpret it as an attack rather than a request for help."

At the Trancy Estate, (f/d) was still waiting out her father from requesting her knowledge as well as Hannah's empty pleas of innocence. She was simply (activity) when there was a knock at the door. "Forget it dad!" she called with a sigh. "I'm not talking, and you can't make me!"

"I'm not here for that this time!" Claude called on the other side of the door. "I came here to give you your mail."

After a moment of silence, several clicks and bolts were heard before the knob turned and a (f/e/c) eye peeked out. "…I have…mail?" Claude nodded as he revealed the envelope.

Quickly, (f/d) snatched the envelope and shut the door as all the locks were pushed back in place. Claude just gaped at the action as he simply stood there. "Do you plan on hiding in there forever?"

"Yup!" the teen called back as she opened the envelope. What was inside the letter made her want to change her answer.

"Ms. Faustus,

I, Ciel Phantomhive, Earl of the Phantomhive manner, request that you assist me and my butler, Sebastian Michaelis, recover his missing daughter, (m/d) S. Michaelis. We want nothing more than her safe return, and we believe you wish for that as well.

If you succeed in your assistance and aid, you will be duly rewarded with whatever you would like that is within my power.

Ciel Phantomhive, son of Vincent"

After reading the letter several times, she finally understood what was going on. Her friend was missing, now she was being asked to help by the very demon who her father spoke ill of since she was just a little puppy. Slowly, she unlocked every bolt and chain that connected the door to the frame, opening it slightly to see Claude still standing in the hall. "…I'm only coming out to help Ciel and Sebastian."


	6. Team Work

Chapter 5: Team Work

The whole march down the Trancy steps, (f/d)'s teeth were set on edge from Claude rushing to follow her. "(f/d)! Think about this for a moment!"

"What's there to think ABOUT?" she asked right back. "(m/d) is my friend."

"I understand that, but-"

"I doubt that!" she laughed as she approached the door. "You? Understand friends? That's a laugh."

"(f/d)! If you walk out that door, then-"

"Then what?" she shouted. "You'll lock me in my room? You'll restrict my food, water, and fresh air? What could you do that you haven't done already?"

"I'm coming with you!"

(f/d) froze, her hand tense on the knob. "…What?"

With a sigh, Claude got down on one knee and placed his right hand over his heart as his daughter turned to see his bow. "I am a butler, but I won't be one forever. Most importantly, I'm your father, and always will be."

The teen smiled as she knelt with him, unfolding his arms and glomping him in a hug. "…Salt into Sugar…Hate into Love…Housemates into Family…That's what makes a Faustus Demon." (f/d) recited as the two just stayed there and hugged each other tightly.

When the two made it to the Phantomhive Estate, it was awkward to say the least. It was strange for (f/d) to see another butler, much less Sebastian Michaelis himself, serve her and her father tea. "…I…hope you like Earl Grey…"

"Thank you." (f/d) thanked as she sipped the tea awkwardly.

After another awkward silence, Ciel cleared his throat. "I trust you both understand why we sent the letter to you?"

"You sent it to me because I'm (m/d)'s friend, and have been for months now." (f/d) answered.

"I'm here to protect my daughter, that's all." Claude stated, earning a glare from Sebastian.

More silence passed before the boy Earl sighed in a business tone, regaining the attention of the three demons. "Our target is Aleister Chamber, the Viscount Druitt, he is our kidnapper."

"What makes you so sure?" Claude asked. "What evidence do you have?"

"The woman who saw (m/d) last said that she was with the Viscount before she disappeared." The Phantomhive boy answered. "Also, the room we were told (m/d) was brought into was filled to the brim with a knock out gas of a very specific kind, one of which I, myself have fallen victim to before when it was at Aleister's hand."

(f/d) nodded in understanding. "Okay! What's the plan?"

"Our plan is to actually use you as bait." Sebastian explained, refilling her tea cup. "While Druitt is distracted by you, the master and I will search the property. All you'd have to do is to not leave your spot, and keep him occupied."

"Not going to happen!" Claude shouted. "I will NOT allow my daughter to be in the face of danger while-"

"What all do I need to do?" the teen asked, disregarding Claude's protest.

The spider demon looked at his daughter in slight shock. "(f/d), are you sure about this?" he asked. "Risking your safety? For a Michaelis, no less?"

When the teen nodded, Sebastian smiled a little. "Thank you for your cooperation." He stated with a small bow.

(m/d)pov

My head ached horribly. My throat was dry and soar. My vision was blocked by a black cloth. My wrists and ankles were bruised and bleeding. My bare feet were frozen in the icy water that pooled in the stones. My back was painfully stiff from leaning against the stone wall for several minutes, hours, nearly days, as I sat on the ground. I didn't know where I was, or what happened in the past two days, all I knew was what was already described until I heard a squeak followed by footsteps. "Are you comfortable, my little kitten?"

That voice, I could've sworn I've heard it somewhere…right. It was the last voice I heard before I got knocked out. I couldn't remember…was he the one who knocked me out? Judging from how calm he sounded, most likely. "You mean I'm not at a five start hotel? You could've fooled me." I wanted to say, but oddly, all that came out were strange muffled sounds. It might've been from whatever was stuffed in my mouth to prevent my jaw from closing.

"I'm glad to hear that you are settled nicely." He laughed.

What was this guy's problem? Couldn't he see that I'm not comfortable? Or even close? I leaned my head back and exhaled deeply. 'Dad.' I mentally reached out. 'Get me out of here.'

3pov

Claude didn't like the idea when it was being bounced around back at the manner, but now he was looking at his daughter dressed up as live bait. With her long black dress with scattered purple flowers, as well as a flower in her (f/h/c) hair, it was hard to believe she was the same person who refused to accept the title "maid" simply so she could avoid the dress and apron with the frilly hat. On the carriage ride to their destination, he couldn't help but ask again. "(f/d), are you sure about this?"

To this, the teen gave her father a miniature glare. "If I wasn't sure, would I be wearing a **DRESS** right now?" she asked. "(m/d) is my friend, and friends stay loyal to each other. I have no doubt that if the situations were reverse, she'd do the same for me."

Sebastian smiled. "Perhaps I misjudged you." He stated.

(f/d) re-adjusted the flower in her hair with a smile and chuckle. "Sugar into Salt, Butler into Maiden, Suspicion into Trust, that's what makes a True Friend."

Seeing this, the crow demon narrowed his eyes at the girl. "…Like father, like daughter, I suppose."

When the three arrived at the location, Claude couldn't help but ask yet again as he saw his daughter leave the carriage. "(f/d), are you sure you want to do this? You can still turn back now, but once that door opens, there's not much more I can do."

"Yes dad." The girl huffed. "I am completely sure I want to do this. For the last time, (m/d) is my FRIEND, and friends stay together."

Hearing this, the spider demon nodded before he started to transform into a small spider on the seat. (f/d) smiled as she extended her hand to her father, on which the eight legged creature crawled on. "You just don't give up, do you?" she asked, lifting Claude to her shoulder to hide somewhere in the ruffles of her dress.

"I know how much you don't like it when I do this, but at least this way, I could help you if you get in trouble." He stated in worry.

(f/d) shifted her gaze to Sebastian and Ciel sneaking in through a window before knocking on the door. Druitt opened the door and smiled greedily at the girl. "Now, what is a butterfly like you doing here so late at night?" he asked.

(f/d) curtsied. "Apologies for the intuition, sir, but I got lost out here while on a stroll with my father." She stated. "If you may allow me to see a map, or point me in the proper direction of the coast, I would be ever grateful. That's where my father and I agreed to meet if we got lost."

The Viscount smiled. "Now, why would I do that? That would require me assuming you can find your way after I point you in the proper direction. It would be my honor to escort you to the coast."

As the man continued ahead, (f/d) turned to Claude on her shoulder, putting him on the ground. "Help Sebastian and Ciel, and find (m/d). I'll be fine." The girl pushed the spider in the house before closing the door and following Druitt.

Claude gazed at the door and sighed before returning to his human form. "…Please be careful."

The three men met in the center of the entrance hall. "Sebastian! You look in the second floor. Check the bedrooms, studies, any door you see." Ciel ordered before turning to Claude. "You search in the servant's quarters and basement. I'll look around the first floor." Both butlers nodded before splitting up.

Sebastian threw open every door in sight, every door opened to an empty room caused his worry to increase dramatically until he was at the point of looking like an insane asylum patient.

Ciel searched for trap doors through the entrance hall, kitchen, library, etc. with no such luck. With every attempt to open a secret door, he got a little more annoyed.

The spider demon looked around in every room in the servant's quarters before returning to the kitchen to go down to the basement. When he got there, he heard the rattle of chains against concrete and saw a figure in the corner, folded in herself. She was faced away from him, but he still had a feeling he knew who she was.

He approached her and knelt next to her. When he touched her shoulder, she started to freak out and squirm, crying and sobbing through the thick fabric between her teeth that tied behind her neck. "It's alright." He soothed. "Don't scream." He gently untied the black blindfold and confirmed who he'd found. Seeing the green eyes of a reaper, but the slightly (m/e/c) hue in them that made her different, he knew this girl was none other than (m/d) Sutcliff Michaelis.


	7. Druitt to Spider

Chapter 6: Druitt to Spider

(m/d) looked at Claude, though he looked like a blob of bland colors without her glasses, through teary eyes as he ungagged her. "M-my gla…" she stated weakly.

"What was that?" the spider demon asked.

"My glasses…" she repeated. "Where are my glasses?"

Claude understood and continued to remove the fabrics from her form, using the gag to wipe off drool she gained in her time there, her mouth trapped in slight agape. "I'm not sure where your glasses are." He answered as he turned into a spider and crawled in the locks.

After hours of tweaking and twiddling, Claude got the shackles unlocked and exited the keyholes. After returning human, he picked up the girl on the ground, too weak, bruised, and cut to move herself, and debated in his mind on what he should do.

Should he return her to her family? That's what he'd expect from Sebastian if the tables were turned. But then there's the subject that his master's orders were to make Sebastian Michaelis suffer, so should he take the girl and run? Lock her up in the Trancy manner? What if (f/d) found out he did that? She'd never trust him again.

With a sigh, he took his hand and waved it over the girl, forcing her to turn into a small black cat. Once she was a cat, he pushed her in his large coat pocket and used his arm to hide the large lump the girl's form left. With (m/d) secure in his coat, he walked out of the basement and left the large Druitt manner.

When he returned to the Trancy manner, he quickly handed (m/d) off to the triplets with a quick, "Make sure this cat doesn't leave. Lock her in one of the rooms or something." And he left. With amazing speeds, he made it to the coast only minutes after Druitt and (f/d) arrived.

The blond Viscount looked around dramatically and overly animated. "Do you see your father anywhere?" he asked.

(f/d) looked around and sighed. "No, I don't… Just give him a few moments, he'll come."

Just after she said that, a voice called out by the pier. "(f/d)!" the voice called. When the two looked, they saw Claude quickly come over and hug his daughter. "I'm so glad you came here, just like we agreed."

"Yes dad." She stated before glancing to Aleister and giving him a little curtsy. "Thank you for guiding me."

"Yes," Claude thanked, bowing his head slightly. "Thank you for helping my daughter. I will be happy to do whatever I can to repay my debt."

Aleister grinned down at the girl. "…All I ask is to know this little butterfly's name."

"(f/d) Blanc Faustus." She introduced herself fully before looking back up at him with a worried look. "I apologize if I had misled you into believing I was without a man in my life, but my heart belongs to another."

To this, Aleister held his head in over animated despair. "NOOOOOOOO!" he cried before picking himself up with a smile. "No worries, because when this other man breaks your heart, I shall be there to stitch it together once again!"

Meanwhile, Sebastian and Ciel entered the Phantomhive estate empty handed. "What happened?" Finnie asked, fully concerned. "Did you find her?"

Ciel shot him a glare. "Sebastian is still a hot mess, we come back completely alone, and you think we found her?"

The gardener cringed before scratching the back of his head. "…Just a question…"

The butler looked down at his pocket watch and widened his eyes. "Oh, my, look at how late it's gotten." He stated. "It's time for bed, young master."

When Sebastian tried to go up the steps, Ciel took off his eye patch. "No!" he shouted. "Sebastian, you are still an unfit nervous wreck! Leave this manner and don't return until your daughter is returned to safety!" The demon looked at him in shock before the boy earl shouted, "That's an order!"

Sebastian took in a deep breath and bowed. "Yes, my Lord." He stated before he went out the door.

Ciel continued up the stairs to attempt to get ready for bed on his own. "Meyrin!" he called as he passed the maid dusting the portraits. "Until Sebastian returns, you are to take his job."

"M-me?" she asked. "B-but I have no idea what he does, I sure don't!"

The master shrugged. "All you do is wake me up, get me ready for the day, serve me breakfast, bring me tea and snacks, protect me when I go out, serve dinner, and get me ready for bed."

Meyrin gave him a look of fear. "…That sounds really easy, but Sebastian makes it look easy and hard at the same time!" she turned to look down at the entrance hall. "Finnie, would you-?" she cut herself off when she saw the trail of irritated dust that led straight to the slightly swinging front doors. "…Finnie?"

"SEEEEEEEEEBAAAAAASTIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" came a scream before the butler nearly fell over when the caller crashed into him.

Sebastian looked over and raised a brow at the turquoise eyes that looked up at him. "…Finnian? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to help look for (m/d)!" he called happilly.

Hearing this, the tired butler clutched his head. "Oh…right…you and her have been dating for-"

"Over a year!" he finished. "Ever since Pluto scared her and you were busy serving the master his tea!" The demon still looked at him skeptically before the gardener raised his hands in defense. "She already told me about demons and reapers and angels and all that, so you don't have to keep those kinds of secrets from me, since you're a demon…you are a demon, right?"

Sebastian averted his eyes and continued to walk in silence. "You ARE a demon! I knew it! Well, partly because (m/d) already told me that you're a demon, but then she told me that her mom was Grell, Isn't Grell a guy? I mean, how does that work out? So, can you fly? (m/d) told me you can fly! Oh! And she told me that you also have super speed and strength! She even told me that one time when you and the master went on that train, you stopped that train with your bare hand, and saved the whole train from a bomb that was set to go off when the train stopped! Oh! And she told me about how, at the same time, you saved the master, and a little boy from being kidnapped! Three crises at once! Wow! Is there anything you can't do? She also told me about this other time…"

As Claude walked with (f/d), trying to cheer her up, the teen only climbed the stairs sluggishly to her room. "…Dad, I'm just going to go to bed." She grumbled, not bothering to turn her head to face him.

The butler nodded in understanding before walking away to leave her alone. (f/d) sighed as she opened the door to her room and closed it again. She tiredly walked over to her bed and plopped on the mattress in exhaustion, not caring about her attire. What caught her off guard was the shriek of surprise from just above her head.

Confused, she looked up and saw a small, short-haired black cat with a reddish shine to her coat. Her fur stood on end, and she looked like a complete mess, coated in mud, soaked to the bone, as well as frazzled. She started to bare her sharp teeth at the teen before she just looked at her with large (e/c)-green eyes.

The (e/c) eyes collided to with the (e/c) hued green orbs of the feline. After a moment, the cat went crazy, leaping around the room and screeching a series of meows. (f/d) simply stared dumbfounded. She wasn't sure why there was a cat in her room. What she could think of was that her dad requested the cat to be in her room to cheer her up with a (m/d) replacement; her missing friend was known as a cat demon after all.

(f/d) picked up the cat and just gazed at her as she squirmed and desperately resisted. "…Where did you come from?" she asked to no one in particular. She tilted her head in thought before taking a deep breath and sniffing the feline, resulting in her choking herself in the repulsive scent. "First thing's first…you need a bath." She could only chuckle as the cat widened her eyes in horror and shrank in her already small form.

Sebastian gazed at his watch in disbelief, trying desperately to hold himself together with paperclips, spit, and duct tape. '…Seven…hours…' It was true. Finnie talked of nothing but his knowledge of the supernatural and his thoughts on his knowledge for seven hours straight.

"…and, she told me that one time, you-"

"FINNIAN!" Sebastian exploded, shocking the gardener. "Can you PLEASE stop! I'm already on edge with what's going on, and you not shutting up is NOT helping!"

The small blond cringed in fright before hugging himself in sorrow. "…Sorry." He muttered. "…I was just trying to lighten the mood, so that when we find her, we can be more focused and sane." The butler straightened, only gazing at his companion in surprise as he continued. "I'm also trying to get everything straight so that, if we DO need to face something supernatural, I won't be helpless."

Hearing this, the crow demon sighed. "…Yes…" he mumbled, earning a confused look from Finnie. "…Yes, I can fly, yes, I do have super strength, yes, I do have super speed, yes, Grell is male, no, I do not understand how it was possible we had a daughter, yes, Grell is a Grim Reaper, no, until recently, there hasn't been a challenge I can't complete, yes, all demons have special powers, no, (m/d) does not have an active power, yes, Claude Faustus is a demon, and most likely, his daughter is one as well. Any more questions for your human mind?"

Finnie thought for a moment before he asked, "…Will (m/d) be okay?"

Sebastian averted his eyes and stared at nothing in silence before he sighed. "…That's what worries me…I don't know…"


	8. Cat's Can't Talk

Chapter 7: Cats Can't Talk

When Claude passed by (f/d)'s bedroom door the next morning, he was surprised to hear his daughter's laughter. Curious, he opened the door and froze stiff and flat as a board in shock at the sight. He saw (f/d) playing with the cat that he commanded the triplets to lock away. When the teen saw her father, she smiled wide and ran up to hug him. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" she screamed, squeezing Claude's arms and torso tightly.

The shocked butler decided to allow the girl to do the talking, and he was glad he did. "I knew you weren't a bad guy! Even though we couldn't find (m/d), you got me a pet cat instead to help!"

The spider demon smiled upon hearing this and pulled his hands out of (f/d)'s grip to hug her back. "Only the best for my little puppy." He stated. "What are you going to name her?"

(f/d) thought for a second before she beamed a smile. "Luna!" Luna meowed with a little shake and the dog demon smiled. "I think she likes it~!" The cat sat on the desk and curled her tail around her legs, giving another meow.

All Claude could do was smile. "Well, I can see that you and…Luna have some very important…uhh…owner/pet bonding to do. I'll leave you too it then." He stated as he left, closing the door behind him.

(f/d) smiled and turned back to her new cat. "Now, are you hungry?" The cat sunk her head as her stomach made a little growl and the teen just laughed. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." And with that, she picked up the cat and carried her down to the kitchen in search for a bowl and something Luna can eat.

After a while, the triplets came in the room and just stared at her in confusion. The girl turned around and called, "Hey! Thompson, Timber, Canterbury, you guys know where the-?" she was cut off as Thompson handed her a bowl, Timber gave her a can of tuna, and Canterbury passed her a bowl of water. She smiled and put the bowls down on the counter. "Thanks guys." The triplets nodded in acknowledgment before walking away.

When Luna tried to sniff the can, (f/d) re-secured her grip on her. Using her one free hand, she opened the tuna can and dumped it in the food bowl before mashing the food with a fork.

Seeing the cat start to get impatient and anxious, the teen took the food bowl in her hand and placed the water bowl to balance on her elbow before walking back to her room. Once there, she shut the door, freed the cat, and placed the bowls in the far corner of the room.

Once Luna was fed and rested from her cat nap, (f/d) was slightly shocked when something hit her window. Looking out, she smiled when she saw the familiar blond hair of her new boyfriend, who she recently started dating only about a month prior to her and her friend being caught meeting each other in the woods by their fathers. ((m/d) actually was the one who introduced them to one another, but that's a different story.)

"Ronald!" she called after opening the window. Hearing the name, Luna perked up and peeked her head out beside her owner, looking down. "What are you doing here? You know my dad doesn't like surprise visits, especially here at the young master's house!"

Ronald looked over at something and chuckled. "Your new cat doesn't seem to mind." He joked as the said cat made loud meows and even tried to jump out the window before (f/d) caught her and pulled her back inside.

After Luna was behind (f/d) with no chance of escape out the window, the teen looked back down at the reaper. "So, my shift ended a while ago, maybe you'd like to go out and about with me, see how much trouble we can cause." Ronald called up.

The demon looked back at the cat and sighed out the window. "I'm sorry, but I need to take care of this new cat."

"The cat can come with us!" the young man called up quickly. "No worries. It'll be fun!"

(f/d) looked back at Luna before biting her lip and nodding, snatching the cat and leaving the room, leaving behind the illusion that she and her cat were sleeping in the bed. With a big smile, and the black cat in her grip, (f/d) and Ronald ran off together in the woods.

Ronald eyed the cat curiously as the two wandered around. (f/d) took notice and looked at him oddly. "…What?" she asked.

"…I know this sounds crazy," the reaper stated before biting his lip. "…But…I think I've seen that cat before." Hearing this, the demon laughed as the cat continuously tried to leap out of (f/d)'s arms and shrieked many alarmed meows at him. "What's even crazier…I feel like she's trying to tell me something."

"Don't be ridiculous." (f/d) chuckled, bumping Ronald with her shoulder due to her arms being full of Luna. "Cats can't talk."

That still didn't put the reaper's mind at ease. "…You're a demon of illusion." He stated. "Can't you give that cat a voice so she can talk?" he asked.

To this, the dog demon scratched her chin in thought as the cat looked up at her with pleading eyes. "…I've never tried to give animals voices like that…have them speak their thoughts…" After some more thought she shrugged uncertainly. "…I don't know…"

Ronald smiled down at her and gave her a side hug. "No worries, it's probably nothing." At those words, the cat slumped in defeat.

As the night went by, (f/d) couldn't help but notice Luna's depressed state. "Luna?" she called softly, shaking the cat a little. "You alright?"

"What's wrong?" Ronald asked, looking down at the unmoving cat aside from the steady deep rise and fall of the cat's abdomen and occasional blink of her large blue hued green eyes.

The dog demon shrugged. "I don't know, maybe she's tired." She concluded, beginning to leave. "I guess I should be getting home. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked. "Same time?"

He nodded as he took her hand into his own. "I'll take you home then."

When they arrived at home, (f/d) quickly defused the illusion she left and got ready for bed. Just before she blew out the candles, she gazed at Luna, still depressingly lying on the bed curled in a little ball.

She consistently thought about what she and Ronald discussed, but she didn't have much faith in her ability; at least not enough to try letting animals talk. If she was really curious about the cat's thoughts, she'd ask her father to turn her human so she can speak for herself. She knew he could do that…it was just a question of would he.

Her mind was set. Next time she'd see Claude, she'd ask him to turn her little Luna into a human. She was so curious about the cat's thoughts that she was already practicing her best puppy pout she'd ever pulled on him.

A good puppy pout would give her what she wanted from him; a great puppy pout would give her what he wouldn't want to give.

The next morning, she followed through with her plans on asking Claude. She looked up at him while she helped spread the tablecloth that was newly ironed. "…Dad," she called. When he looked up at her, she continued. "…I was wondering if…you see, Luna…" Now, Claude completely stopped what he was doing and stood straight, looking directly at her with slightly widened (worried) eyes. Seeing this, (f/d) blurted out, "CanyoumakeLunaahuman?"

The spider demon widened his eyes fully before adjusting his glasses and regaining his composure. "…Sugar into Salt, English into Purrs, Fingers into Paws. You want me to turn your feline friend human?"

The girl nodded, slightly confused by her father's choice of words in his phrase. "Why'd you use the saying like that?" she asked.

"To emphasize the transformation between the two species." He stated.

(f/d) thought for a second as she replayed the line in her head. "…but then…wouldn't it be the other way around?" she asked. "Purrs into English? Paws into Fingers?"

Claude simply looked at her before he nodded. "In this case, yes. How silly of me to get it mixed."

The dog demon sighed. "…Yeah, it's not like you to mix up your own line." She thought harder on the subject before she continued her chores. She'd never heard him get his subjects mixed up like that. As annoying, vague, and confusing as his riddles were, she knew that much. The only option was that he didn't mix it up by accident, but the only way to know for sure was to get in Luna's head. Because she was brought to her through Claude, she might understand what he knows.

She expelled that from her mind only seconds after it entered. "Don't be crazy (f/d)." She scolded herself in harsh whisper as she assisted the triplets in the garden. "Cats can't talk, and they don't understand what's going on."

"Are you talking about the cat that Claude requested be locked in your room a while back?" Timber asked, startling the dog demon.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed in surprise before she looked at the purple haired man dumbfounded. "Timber? You can talk?!"

"We've been talking the whole time!" Thompson exclaimed, jumping down from a tree.

"Yeah, but today the master ordered us to talk loud enough to be heard by more than just ourselves." Canterbury sighed, twirling in the air from another tree branch.

(f/d) looked at them with wide eyes before she shook her head and turned to the first triplet. "What did you say about Luna?"

"So, Luna is that cat's name?" he asked, clutching his chin in thought and arching a brow. "In all honesty, Claude ordered us to lock her away; it was our own idea to put her in your room."

"We thought you'd like the extra company." Thompson stated with a small smile.

"He didn't tell us anything about the cat, just that we weren't to let it leave." Canterbury added.

The dog demon scratched her chin. "I guess then I need to make the illusion of her thoughts…Thanks for the help Thompson!"

"I'm Timber!"

(f/d) didn't pay attention as she ran up to her room and woke the sleeping cat on her window seal. With a smile, she picked up the cat and brushed her hand over her throat. "Now then," she stated as she concentrated of the red dust that circled Luna and contracted to where her voice would be. "…Let's see what my father is hiding from me."


	9. Squashed Spider

Chapter 8: Squashed Spider

The cat looked up at (f/d) and smiled. "(F/D)!" she exclaimed in a voice very familiar to the teen.

As the cat brushed up against her, (f/d) looked at her with wide eyes. "…(m/d)?" she asked, only making the feline's smile bigger.

"About time you followed Ronald's plan! I've been trying to tell you forever!"

"What happened?" the dog demon asked. "Why didn't you change back? Why didn't you talk? Where've you been?"

"Well," (m/d) started, sitting on the desk with her tail twisted around her three paws as she used her fourth paw to talk. "After our last meeting in the forest, my dad busted me and didn't let me out of his sight! After a few weeks of that, the Viscount Druitt showed up from nowhere, knocked me out, and tied me in his basement for, I don't even know how long! When I was finally found by your dad, he turned me into a cat and gave me to the triplets who gave me to you. As for why I couldn't talk or change back, when your dad turned me into a cat, he blocked off my demonic power to change form willingly. I can't change back until he changes me back. By the way, your dad owes me a pair of reaper glasses!"

It wasn't until then when a thought occurred to her and she lay on the desk, hiding her kitten face in her little paws. "How bad is my dad?" she asked. "If your dad found me, then I can only guess you saw my dad. How far off the deep end has he gone?"

(f/d) bit her lip and averted her eyes. "…Pretty far…"

Hearing this, (m/d) folded her pointed ears and whimpered. "I'm so dead when I get home." With a sigh, she removed her paws from her eyes and placed them over her head as she looked up at her friend. "…How long does this illusion work?" she asked.

The demon thought for a moment before she answered, "I've never tried an illusion like this before, but the longest illusion I've kept going lasted about a day, give or take a few hours."

To this, the cat lept off the desk and started out the door. "Come on!" she called. "You gotta help me find my dad!"

"Hold up!" (f/d) stopped her friend, shutting the door just before the cat could leave, effectively having her face plant the door. "If it really was my dad who did this, then he's going to be alarmed when he finds you running around the manner without me holding you, even more so if you talk in front of him." As (m/d) rubbed her nose with her paw, she looked up at the teen. "Also, it would prove that he lied to me, and I want him to tell me the truth. If the illusion wares off then I can just renew it, but I want to hear him be honest with me. Once I leave, I miss my chance."

The small cat sighed and averted her eyes. "…Fine, but how are you going to get the truth out of him?" she asked. "He's a spider!"

(m/d) had her there. (f/d) thought for a moment before a smirk spread across her face. "I think I have an idea…" (m/d) perked at this and looked sideways at her. "I need you to-"

"To do what?" came a deep, rough voice from behind the teen.

(f/d) turned around in alarm and smacked (m/d)'s mouth shut before she could say a word. "Hi daddy." The dog demon giggled.

Claude raised a long black brow. "You only call me that anymore if you want something." He stated, crossing his arms and looking down at her with an intimidating golden glare.

"Want something?" (f/d) asked, sliding (m/d) behind her back but not removing her hand from the cat's muzzle. "What makes you think I want something?" When the spider demon started tapping his foot in agitation, the pup sighed. "You caught me." She uttered. "I just want to know if you were being honest when you said you never found (m/d) at Druitt's manner."

Claude adjusted his glasses again and sighed. "I already told you, all I found in the servant quarters of that manner, where I was instructed to search, were these." He reached in his breast pocket and pulled out a pair of thin square purple glasses before returning them to the pocket he pulled them from. "If Ms. Michaelis was on the property, she is now either at another location or reunited with her father. I have done nothing short of what I would expect from Sebastian Michaelis if the situations were reverse." With that, he turned to take his leave.

Seconds after the door shut, (m/d) walked next to her friend and looked up in her (f/e/c) eyes with a growing smirk. "You were saying?"

As Claude continued with his chores, he didn't take notice to the shadows that followed him along with the faint sound of purrs. Green eyes glowed in the shadows as the slit pupils followed his every move. "…Claude …" a faint voice whispered in the wind. The butler stopped for only a moment before he shook his head and continued his work.

"…Claude…" the voice repeated just a hair louder, causing him to stop and look around in the darkness of the room. "…You had your chance…" another whisper whisked in the wind and echoed through the hall as the shadow lept to a lower shelf for a better look.

The demon butler looked around again, now suspicious of what was happening. "Who's there?" he asked sternly.

His answer was in purrs. "…You know who…" the voice whispered as the deep purrs gradually grew louder.

The spider uneasily continued his chores, trying to ignore the voices and sounds until the voice purred a specific sentence that made his skin crawl. "How can you lie to your own **daughter** like that?" the voice asked, emphasizing the word 'daughter'.

"I never lied to her!" Claude shouted to seemingly nothing other than the shadows and wind.

"You never gave her the full truth either."

The golden eyes of the man in black widened in slight fear. "Why would you care?" he asked. "Who are you?"

"You know well who I am." The voice repeated as a small form landed just behind him and flicked her tail back and forth with a smirk on her red and black kitten face. "I'm the girl you denied from Sebastian Michaelis. I'm the girl you lied to your daughter about. I'm the girl…that's right behind you."

The spider demon hesitantly turned around and saw the small cat with the demonic evil glow in her green eyes. "…Boo."

Seeing the cat's mouth move and a word to escape the black lips, the butler jumped before he furrowed his brows and seized the cat by the scruff of her neck. "I don't know how you were able to speak English, but you're not telling (f/d) anything!"

(m/d) crossed her front legs as if they were arms and smirked. "I already told her!" she exclaimed. "I told her about you finding me in Druitt's basement, turning me into a cat, wanting me to be locked up…Everything!"

Claude fumed in anger and rushed outside. He took the cat far in the garden until he reached the triplet's shed. It was small, crammed, and filled to the brim with big and sharp gardening tools. Worst of all, the shed had nothing relatively close to a window, only shuffled dirt under the door. The butler creaked open the door and threw (m/d) inside before shutting it once again and clicking the lock, dropping the key in his pocket.

The small feline scratched and dug in the old wooden door in panic, screeching, meowing, and crying for help, as Claude simply took his leave. "Sugar into Salt, Voices into Silence, (m/d) Michaelis into Helpless Feline. That's what makes a Trancy butler."

Two seconds after the spider demon opened the door to return inside, he was greeted by a not so happy teenager who saw his whole walk through the garden from her balcony of her room. "…Dad…" she stated sternly, crossing her own arms and glaring up at the man. When Claude was silent and looked at her blankly, she continued. "Is there something you want to say?"

After a second's thought, Claude shook his head. "Nothing." He answered.

(f/d) only furrowed her brows more and hardened her glare. "I've given you two chances just today to tell me the truth, and you keep on shoving me more lies!" she exploded. With that, she pushed past him and ran out in the woods.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to do the genuinely right thing, and find Sebastian!" she answered. "He has a right to know where his daughter is." As she stormed off in the shadows of the trees, she started to call back at Claude without turning around to face him, "I should've listened to (m/d) when she said that you were hopeless! You'll NEVER change! Once a deceitful spider, always a deceitful spider."

The spider demon saddened his expression at her words as he watched her disappear in the greenery. He might've won the battle to keep the Michaelis girl there with locking her on the Trancy property, but lost the war of his relationship with his daughter with (f/d)'s few words; he became nothing more than a squashed spider.


	10. Trusting Trancys

Chapter 9: Trusting Trancys

Sebastian and Finnie searched everywhere they could, sneaking around all of Druitt's manners and facilities. After days of this searching they grew tired and fearful of the lack of success. Both of them (even Sebastian) bore dark bags under their eyes and their hair was getting less straight and more crazed. Even their cloths were starting to wear and tear from sneaking in window after window, hiding in bush after bush. "What are we going to do now?" the gardener asked as the butler looked down at him.

Just before the demon could answer, a twig snapping caught his attention as a form came out of the trees in front of them. It was the form of a girl with a long black tail coat, a black tie under a purple clip, and (f/h/c) hair falling over (f/e/c) eyes. Sebastian sneered. "Go away!"

(f/d) looked up at him after beating the leaves and dirt from her arms. "Sebastian, you have to come with me to the Trancy manner." She informed.

"Why would we do that?" Finnie asked.

"(m/d)'s there." This caught their attention, so she continued. "My dad had her the whole time since your search." She explained as the two listened carefully.

When the explanation was finished, Sebastian sighed. "So, you mean to say that (m/d) has been with you this whole time?" She nodded.

Finnie bit his lip in thought. "Let me get this straight." He stated, clutching his head to relieve the oncoming headache. "So, (m/d) was kidnapped by Druitt, but then turned into a cat and taken to the Trancy estate, where she's been ever since?"

(f/d) again nodded. "The only problem is that, when my dad took her in the garden, I lost sight of where he took her specifically." She stated. "We'd need to search the gardens, without my dad or young master finding out, of course."

As the three came up to the manner, (f/d) looked around in the shadows of the nightly hour before turning to the men. "All clear." She whispered before she jumped out of her skin and her dog ears, tail, and even angel wings popped out for only a second. Someone jumped right in her path.

Seeing it was only Timber, she folded her wings and smoothed her ears and tail in her hair and coat before smacking the triplet. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "And why did you have to scare me like that?!"

"I heard you coming back with Sebastian." He stated, crossing his arms.

After a second, something hit the teen like a ton of bricks. "…Where are Thompson and Canterbury?"

"Thompson is talking Claude's ear off in the kitchen, and Canterbury is insisting on the master's help on deciding the new inertial design." Timber answered. "As for what I'm doing here," he reached in his breast pocket of his vest and pulled out a shining golden key. "…I saw Claude lock up that cat in our shed."

Hearing this, Sebastian widened his eyes. "Why didn't you set her free when you had the chance?"

"Same reason you three are sneaking around." Was the triplet's answer. "If I opened the shed directly after Claude locked it, he would've heard the lack in cries, and know it was me and my brothers instantly, the young master would know that something was wrong, Claude would tell him that his back-up plan to making you miserable was failing, then my brothers and I would all three face the demon sword."

The crow demon simply slumped and hung his head tiredly. "…Why is it this kids goal in life to make me miserable?" he asked no one in particular. He sighed to himself, regaining his scrap of composure left, before looking up at Timber. "You are willing to show us your shed?" The purple haired demon nodded as he started to walk in the right direction.

When they got there, Timber unlocked the door and opened it wide. Inside the small wooden shed were…only tools. Finnie looked behind the tools, calling (m/d)'s name, but Sebastian growled and took the triplet's shirt in his fist. "You think this is funny?" he growled as his shadow grew larger and indefinite in shape.

"No!" Timber shouted in defense. "I promise I saw Claude lock her in here!"

(f/d) looked down at her feet and noticed something odd. She knelt down to the soil and placed her hand in the deep hole at the base of the doorway. 'That must be what happened,' she thought to herself as she turned into a full dog and sniffed the hole. '…chocolate and catnip? Yup, that's (m/d) alright.'

"Guys, I found something!" she shouted, but was ignored as Sebastian pulled his fist back that was aimed for Timber's face. As a result, the dog bit in the demon's pants sleeve and pulled the leg just enough for Sebastian to slip and stumble on a box. "I have (m/d)'s scent!"

Finnie looked at (f/d) confusingly. "…How is it she could talk, but Pluto couldn't?"

Sebastian clutched his head, trying to think of a good way to explain. "Pluto was a demon hound, which are born as canines and gain the ability to turn human as time progresses. (f/d), however, is a dog demon, which is just like other demons, but her default form is a dog much like mine is a crow and (m/d)'s is a cat."

(f/d) tugged on Sebastian's pants to gain everyone's attention. "This is a great lesson and all, but I have the scent, and it's not going to be long before Thompson and Canterbury can't distract my dad and master anymore. Are we here to find (m/d), or learn Demons 101?"

The three nodded before they followed the dog. "You know, Timber," she called back as she followed her scent trail. "I think we can take it from here. You go and check on your brothers, especially Thompson. Make sure my dad does NOT find us!" The demon nodded and ran back to the manner.

(f/d), Finnie, and Sebastian followed the trail a little further before the dog saw something very distinct and familiar, a skull. She sniffed the skull again before turning to the men. "I think I know where she went." She stated.

"Where?" Finnie asked.

"A while back, before our dads even knew we were friends, we had a club house in the middle of the woods between the Trancy manner and Phantomhives." She explained. "The path was built with skulls and bones, and we even put up amulets so no one would follow us, namely you and my dad." She stated as she moved the bushes a little to reveal the amulet shaped like a dog's head hanging from a branch. (f/d) looked up and nearly met Sebastian's red glare before averting her eyes to the earthy ground. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work on humans, but since the only human in this manner is Alois, that was never really a problem for me."

"If the amulets don't let demons pass," Finnie started, trying to connect the dots. "Then how is it you and (m/d) can? Aren't you both demons?"

"We both put a few drops of our blood on each amulet so it would let us in at either entrance." She explained. "Unless their blood ended up on the amulet, no demon, neither reaper, nor angel could follow us."

"Why would she go there?" the gardener asked, truly curious.

Sebastian took another look at the amulet and furrowed his brows. "It's a guarantee that she will be safe from Claude, especially because of the supernatural protection on this path." He explained as he removed his glove, bit his finger hard enough to draw blood, and attempted to drop the red liquid on the amulet when it rejected him all together and zapped him back a good few yards.

The zap alerted Claude as the spider demon dropped his activity and hurried from the kitchen to the garden. "Uh, I think I heard the master call for you!" Thompson shouted, trying to keep his attention.

"I didn't hear the master." The butler responded as he opened the door and started outside.

Seeing light pour out the door, (f/d) quickly snatched the amulet and presented it to Sebastian. "Come on, it should work now that it's been moved from its place." She insisted.

Sebastian looked back before quickly squeezing out a few drops of blood on the stone. Just when (f/d) returned it to the branch it originally hung on, Claude turned the corner and saw them as Thompson and Timber both tried to pull him back. (f/d) watched tensely as the glow started to fade, knowing it wouldn't accept the new blood until its supernatural shine was gone. "Come on! Come on! Come on!" she hurried. The second the light faded, she dragged Sebastian and Finnie on the path just before Claude could snatch the gardener's hat. When the spider demon tried to follow, he was zapped in exile from the woods and thrown many yards back.

When Claude walked away with a huff, Sebastian looked at (f/d), now returning to her human form. "…My blood will stay on that amulet for the rest of its existence, you know that?"

"Yes."

"…Why help me in?" he asked. "What do you have to gain in helping me at all rather than turning me in to your father or helping him find (m/d)?"

(f/d) turned back to him, now down the path a little ways, and looked him dead in the eye. "You're a smart demon, Sebastian, what are dogs good for if not loyalty to those deserving of it?" The crow was silent as he followed the dog and was followed by the gardener. "Let me tell you something, boys, the moment (m/d) and I found out that our families were enemies, we promised to stay loyal to each other. I promised I'd stand by her, and her me, and I still honor that word."

"But, how is helping us being loyal to her?" Finnie asked as the three continued down the path of skulls and bones.

"Simple." (f/d) shrugged as they approached the old club house. "If I just found her, then my dad could easily get his webs on her. But, if I found her for you," she stopped to open the door where they found a small figure breathing lightly under a blanket.

Now stirred from the sound of the door the small figure used her tiny paws to rub her eyes and looked up at the frame. Seeing the tall butler, the green eyes of the cat widened in pure joy. "Daddy!" she cried as she lept in his arms and snuggled up against him as he fully squeezed her back, making it difficult for Finnie to even scratch her behind the ears.

"(m/d)!" Sebastian called back in flooding relief as he continuously kissed the top of her head and around her small furry face. "My little kitten."

(f/d) smiled at the scene before her as she continued her thought. "…I'd know she'd be in good, safe hands."


	11. Convince the Spider

Chapter 10: Convince the Spider

Though Sebastian chose to sit on the wooden bench in the small cabin, he never let (m/d) out of his arms. Even if he wanted to let Finnie give her a hug (which he didn't), (m/d) made that difficult with her claws digging in his over coat. After a while of them just cuddling together, (f/d) cleared her throat for their attention and that's when the cat noticed Finnie. Pushing Sebastian's arms open, she lept out and in her boyfriend's gloved hands. While the gardener carefully held (m/d) and they rubbed noses together as a substitute kiss, the butler smiled at the dog demon. "I obviously misjudged you." he admitted. "I expected you to be just like your father."

(f/d) sighed and crossed her arms. "My dad and I share a lot. A master, a job, a title, authority, even similar powers, but just like him…I'm nowhere close." After watching Finnie hug (m/d) carefully but tightly, (f/d) saddened. "Unfortunately, my dad and I don't have exactly the same powers, so the best I could do was give (m/d) her voice. I can't turn her back."

Sebastian nodded. "Only Claude can return her to normal."

It was then when (f/d) had an idea pop in her mind. "…We need to go back." She stated. "Not Finnie, he's only a human and would only slow us down, but you, me, and (m/d) need to go back."

The butler looked down at her distrustfully. "Finnian has supernatural strength which only equals my own." He stated. "He is also (m/d)'s…boyfriend." He spat the last word like a bad taste in his mouth. 'I guess it's not just a Claude thing to hate boyfriends.' (f/d) thought in wonder before the butler continued. "He must come with us."

(f/d) huffed before she pouted her lip in thought. "Okay, so what do we have on our side? We have my tracking skills and illusions, your strength, speed, and perfection, Finnie's mutant strength, and (m/d)'s…brain."

"The triplets also seem to be on our side." Sebastian brought up.

The dog demon bit her lip and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Well, because they openly helped us, my dad is sure to punish them somehow, at least Timber and Thompson. I'm not sure about Canterbury though…" She thought some more, wracking her brain on how else she could help. "I also know my dad like the back of my hand. I know all his weaknesses, strengths, you name it!" As she revealed this, she removed her glove showing the golden pentagram that matched Claude's perfectly. "My dad is literally on the back of my hand."

The butler smiled devilishly at this. "So, you know every detail of him?" he asked. (f/d) nodded as the man scratched his chin. "We might get through this…" With a smile, he told her the plan he had in mind.

As the four made their way back to the Trancy garden, the manner only yards away, Finnie followed the two demons fearfully as (m/d) hid under his hat, her head peeking over his shoulder occasionally. "Remember Finnian," Sebastian turned. "Your job is only to protect (m/d). (f/d) and I will handle Claude." The gardener nodded with a salute.

"I know all his fighting moves; they're not that different from the moves he uses to finish chores." (f/d) stated, moving the branches that blocked their path and revealed the large fertile garden. "I'll let you know what he's going to do."

Even though Sebastian believed he could hold his own against Claude, he smiled at the offer as they crossed the line the amulet left.

They walked around the gardens, eyes peeled for the spider. "Looking for something, Michaelis?" Claude laughed from behind them as he lept from the high roof top and stood before them with a grin. "You seem rather lost."

"I don't want trouble." Sebastian claimed. "Just return my daughter to her human form, and no harm will come to you or your master."

The Trancy butler's grin only widened. "No harm will come to me?" he asked. "Nothing can harm me anyway."

(f/d) stepped up with her puppy pout. "Dad, last chance. Please do the right thing for once. Do it for me." When he drew his hand back, (f/d) crashed and tumbled into Sebastian, both narrowly missing the spider web that shot from Claude's hand. "Stupid spider webs." She huffed under her breath. "I hate it when he does that."

Claude looked dumbfounded as he watched (f/d) help Sebastian back to his feet. Once he was over his shock, he growled and lept in the air. The teen looked up skeptically as he crossed his arms. "He's going to throw his knives!" she shouted.

The Phantomhive butler smiled and reached for his own plethora of limitless knives. "This, I can fight!" he claimed as he flew in the dawning sky and the knives of silver and gold rained through the air and landed in the grass of the gardens.

While the butlers fought in midair, the sound of gun fire alerted the teen to Finnie. When she looked, she saw Hannah with her machine gun, firing at Finnie at fifty bullets a second at least. (f/d) bolted to the human's side and instinctively grabbed the gardener and spread wings before swiftly zooming from the green earth to the orange and pink sky.

(f/d) flew through the air, not even noticing the new altitude, and let go of Finnie when she reached a field not far, but far enough to be safe from the fight. "Stay there until the fight's over!" she shouted as her arms let him lose.

When he screamed from the small drop she took in notice to the extensions on her back. Seeing the large white wings, she could only stare at them in curiosity. "…That's new…" she whispered to herself in awe. "Have those always been there?"

"Uh, (f/d)," Finnie called, recapturing her attention. "What about Sebastian?"

"Oh, yeah!" she perked up at the reminder. "There's a fight going on, isn't there?" she giggled to herself at her forgetfulness and zipped back to the Trancy gardens.

When she returned to the garden, she saw Sebastian get thrown down to the ground and a web come straight for him. Out of instinct, (f/d) zoomed right in the way of the web and was thrown up and over to the hard stone ground before Claude even knew what he'd done. He ran over to his daughter but froze when he saw the wings.

He hadn't seen wings like those since before (f/d) was born, when he met her mother centuries ago. Thoughts and memories flooded back from the sight of (f/d) and her wings, so weak and broken down; it reminded him of her mother's master, how he'd beat her day in and day out. He remembered the day she told him she loved him; even more so, he remembered his thoughts when he found out that he was going to be a father. He didn't have much trust in his parenting abilities, especially not back then.

Because she was forbidden from bearing children, that being part of her Fallen Angel punishment, they kept her pregnancy a secret from all demons, reapers, angels, whoever could potentially hurt them or the unborn child. After she gave birth, she begged Claude to take the baby. His new daughter looked much like himself and little of her own mother, so it was easy to convince others that she was his daughter alone without anyone pointing fingers at her true mother. Seconds after she was placed in his arms, the mother was gone with only one request, "Keep me a secret from her, she doesn't need to know, and she won't understand."

Though he didn't want to, he kept his final promise. Looking down at the little bundle in his arms, he smiled. "You're the last part of your mother's bright light left in my world of fiery darkness. You are my little puppy, my baby angel...(f/d)."

Claude was snapped back to reality when the form of the teenage (f/d) staggered to her feet. She got in a fighting position, but the butler refused to fight as he slid back. "This is getting us nowhere." He announced with a sigh. "We can't continue fighting like this."

(f/d) looked at him skeptically as she straightened her position. "…You don't want a physical fight anymore?" she asked as her father shook his head. After some thought, the teen smirked. "Fine. Instead, let's have a contest. Just you and me." As she moved forward, she continued her thought, subconsciously folding her wings. "Whichever one of us can dance the longest wins. If I win, you turn (m/d) back into a human, and you don't make any attempt to kidnap her again."

Claude smiled. "If I win, then I get (m/d), keep her as a cat here in the Trancy manner, you and no one from the Phantomhive manner, nor the reapers can take her back. She is completely mine."

(f/d) looked back at Sebastian, who obviously didn't like the odds as he gazed at her with worried wide eyes and sunk in his broad shoulders with his black nails in his teeth. The teen returned her golden brown eyes to the spider demon who only smiled at her.

It was obvious he had some evil plan up his sleeve. Just when it couldn't get any worse, Claude added, "Also, if you win, I'll answer all your questions about your mother, all with straight, honest, clear answers. No vague riddles, no tricks, no secrets."

This caught (f/d) off guard. That was the last thing she ever expected. "One more thing." Claude added. "If you back out, I win by default."

'I guess it's too late to back out then.' She thought. With a deep breath she asked, "When do we start?"


	12. Getting in Rhythm

Chapter 11: Getting in Rhythm

"How could you do that?!" Sebastian completely exploded as he paced back and forth in the cabin in the woods, throwing his arms to gesture at everything he talked about. "Compete against him, of ALL demons, to a dance competition?!"

(f/d) shrugged and bit her lip. "It seemed like a good idea."

The crow demon glanced over at Finnie hiding behind his knees in a corner and (m/d) still under his hat before he sighed and calmed down. "It's alright. What's done is done. At least you know how to dance, being Claude's daughter." With that, he crossed his arms after starting a record player that (m/d) took from the Phantomhive manner. (Sebastian wondered where it disappeared to for months.)

When the song was half over and (f/d) hadn't moved an inch, Sebastian twitched his eyebrow with shut eyes. "It's just fine. You're a demon of illusion, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, you can make an illusion of yourself dancing against him with more of a chance at winning?"

(f/d) shrugged her shoulders and gritted her teeth. "Well…in theory, I could, but my dummies only know what the original knows. I don't know how to dance like that, so neither would any dummy I make of myself."

"What about Drocell?" he asked. "What if I get Grell to bring him back, then he can make you into a puppet and get you to win."

"My dad's a spider!" (f/d) brought up. "He sees spider webs, which are near invisible to human eyes unless caught in just the right light. I think he would see puppet strings if we did that, which might have him win by default because I wasn't in control of my own body."

Hearing this, Sebastian whipped all emotion from his face and moved over to the cat. "(m/d), sweetie, you're my daughter, and I love you, but it looks like this is the true goodbye."

"Hey!" (f/d) shouted, offended at his lack of faith in her. "When I said dance contest, I meant a fight dance! Not an actual dance!"

"Well, Claude will expect an actual dance."

"No he doesn't! He knows I can't dance!"

"Then why did he have you put so much on the line?"

It was then when it struck her and she slumped. "…We're all dead…"

"Not quite." Sebastian stated as he stood and checked his pocket watch. "It's 7:03 now. We have until noon tomorrow for you to learn to dance."

(f/d) straightened her face at the demon in front of her. "I have two left feet. How am I going to pull this off?! What was I thinking?!"

"No worries." He stated. "Even if you fail, there's still a chance. Exactly what did Claude say for if he wins?"

"No one from the Phantomhives, me, or the reapers can take her from him." She recited.

Sebastian worked out a (backup) plan in his mind before grabbing (f/d) and restarting the record player. "Well, if you really are not a well dancer, then we have a lot of work to do."

It was several hours later when they heard an explosion. "That must be Bard." (m/d) stated, looking up from Finnie's arms as he slept in the corner.

"Bardroy?" Sebastian asked. "Didn't I leave him at the manner with the master?"

The cat looked up at her sky scraper (to her at least) tall father. "We're closer to the manner than you think daddy." She stated.

The demon shrugged it off and looked down at his dancing student. "You're improving greatly from this morning, but not quick enough. Run it again!" And they continued their practice.

With another hour or so of practice, (f/d) got the tap dancing down, causing Sebastian to smile. "Perfect! From the top!" The dog demon complied and started dancing when the music started. Not long after she started getting in the rhythm, Sebastian threw a string at her.

When the string wrapped around her ankle and pulled, she looked up at Sebastian with shock filled eyes. "What was that for?" she asked as she returned to her feet. "I was on a roll!"

"You know as well as I that Claude will do that with his webs." He reasoned with a straight face. "The contest is whoever can dance the longest, not whoever can make the best sounds with their feet." With that, he restarted the record player and stood beside her. "Now, pretend I'm Claude." They started dancing before Sebastian whipped out the string again and (f/d) swung her leg out of the way. She narrowly missed it, but returned to her dance gracefully, leaving the disturbance unnoticed.

The crow demon smiled as they both continued to dance. "Good." He complimented with a nod. "But you need to strike back. What weapon do you use?"

(f/d) thought for a moment, not daring to stop her feet. With a smile spread across her lips, she spun around with a tap and continued the little clicks in her heals. Seconds later, a dozen copies of herself surrounded Sebastian, all dancing exactly the same way, all facing him.

Sebastian smiled and looked around, searching for the real (f/d). "Use your demon power to confuse your opponent, quite clever." He then used his string to attack each dummy, and watched them disappear into (h/c) and (e/c) dust before he found the real one and tripped her, causing the remaining dummies to disappear. "…But too easily solved." He continued his thought before helping her up. "Try again."

For hours and hours, they continued to dance nonstop, attacking each other with demonic powers and avoiding them with impressive flips and flexibility.

(f/d) eventually dropped to the floor from exhaustion. "Sebastian," she huffed. "I think that's enough practice. If anything, dad would be surprised that I can dance."

"You need to be able to avoid every weapon he could throw at you, and continue dancing." He rationalized. "He can change the ground you're standing on into ice to make you slip, or shoot webs at you until you fall, or anything!"

The teen just looked at him, straining her neck to look up at him from the floor. "He's my dad." She reminded. "I know what he could do."

"Even worse," Sebastian continued as he knelt down to the demon nearly passed out on the floor. "He can simply out dance you; keep going until you exhaust yourself…just like now."

"I need to rest, then." She stated, getting up from the floor and sitting on the bench.

Sebastian furrowed his brows in irritation as she sat down. He looked down at his watch that read 2:56. He'd been counting down the minutes before the competition as the number dwindled from 28 hours and 57 minutes to 9 hours and 4 minutes. "But-"

"Five minutes." She requested. "Just five minutes of sleep, that's all I ask for." He didn't like it, but Sebastian nodded in understanding and walked away, looking at (m/d) cuddled in sleeping Finnie's lap as (f/d) lay down on the bench and closed her eyes.

The crow demon smiled as he sat beside the gardener and scratched the cat's ear, earning a deep purr, only causing him to smile more as she moved her head closer to his hand. He couldn't help but wonder if this plan didn't work and (f/d) Angel lost.

Would he ever see his girl again? Would she ever even have thumbs again? Would Canterbury provide the help he had in mind? If not, then would Thompson and Timber even be able to? (f/d) was right in the since that those two would be in trouble, but how much?

He looked down at his watch. '2 minutes,' he thought to himself. '3 more left, then back to work.'

As the seconds ticked by, Sebastian leaned against the wall with a deep sigh, letting his mind wander. Though he didn't sleep, like many other demons, he still dreamed. He's had dreams as crazy as a land on a rainbow filled with singing little people in lollipops, live scarecrows who had brains of straw (though more functional than most human brains), breathing tin men who cry tears of sorrow with no heart to break, talking lions afraid of their own shadows, and a city of green emralds. He's also had dull, straight forward dreams of his past memories over the centuries; his own childhood.

As he watched (m/d) grow, he remembered himself at that age; the bright, innocent toddler/childhood, confusing and life changing pre-teens, rebellious teenage years, all concludes to a calm, understanding, and happy adulthood. He honestly couldn't wait for his daughter to go in that transition between teen and adult, then maybe she'd be happy, possibly settle down and have a family of her own (with a true demon he hoped, though he doubted she'd fall for a demon after being in a relationship with Finnie).

He looked out the window of the small cabin and looked up at the stars. At some point in his gazing, his eyes shut off and he only saw his dream world, hearing the sounds of laughter and music play in the back of his head as he traveled deeper in the land, completely allowing time to slip from his normally firm grasp.


	13. Test of Dance

Chapter 12: Test of Dance

"…stian…bastian…SEBASTIAN!" The demon popped his red eyes open in the pouring sunlight. He didn't even remember closing them. He looked up to see (f/d) shaking his shoulder. "You awake?"

"Awake?" he asked as he stood. "I was never asleep. I was dreaming."

The dog demon tilted her head in confusion before shaking it off. "Sebastian, what time is it? You have the only clock in this cabin."

He looked down at his pocket watch and jumped out of his skin. "10:14!" he shouted. "We only have 1 hour 46 minutes left!" He quickly rushed to the record player and snatched his makeshift web. "Let's get back to practice."

They practiced until the very last second before Sebastian took in a deep breath and (f/d)'s blood ran cold as (m/d) widened her eyes and hid under Finnie's shirt, who gulped loud and clear.

The whole walk to the Trancy's, Sebastian quizzed (f/d). "If he shoots webs at you?"

"I jump out of the way and confuse him with dummies."

"And if he changes the scenery of the ground you're standing on?"

"I move to a better place to dance with as much grace and speed as possible."

Claude looked down at (f/d) with a grin as he stood high and proud, beaming in confidence. From an elevated balcony, Alois sat with a smug look and devilishly furrowed brows. Next to him was Ciel sitting straight and looking forward in his neutral, serious expression. Standing next to each were their maids with tea and sweets on trays in their arms (in Meyrin's case, burned sweets. 'That explains the explosion' Sebastian thought) (A/N: ...Bard :3).

"How did Ciel even know about this dance competition?" (f/d) asked, looking around.

Finnie bit his lip before he shrugged. "Well…"

~Flashback~

(m/d) looked over at her best friend sleeping on the bench and her father sitting limply against the wall with his eyes shut. She turned her eyes to Finnie and flicked her tail across his nose, effectively waking him. "Wha-!"

"Shhh!" she shushed him with her pointed ears folded as she looked around at the undisturbed demons. "I think the master should know about this." She whispered.

The gardener looked down at her with confused turquoise eyes before carefully slipping Sebastian's watch from his pocket. "It's 3:35 in the morning. I think everyone would be asleep." He stated, placing the watch in Sebastian's open palm and scooting away from the demon butler.

"If we tell Meyrin, she'll tell the master first thing in the morning for sure." She stated as she lept to the door and scratched at it lightly. "Come on!"

"It's pitch black out there!" he reasoned.

(m/d) simply looked up at him before pointing to herself. "One of the best things about being a cat, night vision. Come on!"

When they made it to the Phantomhive manner, (m/d) instructing Finnie which way to go, they walked down to the maid's room. She lept on the bed and started to pull on her night shirt. "Come on, come on, come ON!" she grumbled to herself before she lost her grip and flew across the room, crashing into the shelf and causing everything to fall.

Meyrin jumped awake and quickly lit a candle to see what happened. When she looked, she saw (m/d) dizzily swaying from side to side and trying to recapture her balance with the stars circling her head. The maid looked at her in curiosity. "Why is a cat in here?"

(m/d) shook her head straight and looked up at her. "No time to explain." She stated, scaring her nearly to death.

"A CAT THAT TALKS!" she screamed, causing the cat to face plant her paw before leaping on her shoulders and shutting her mouth with her tail.

"Meyrin! It's me, (m/d)!" she stated. When the woman calmed a little in recognition, she opened her mouth to ask questions before she was cut off. "I don't have forever to explain. Tomorrow at noon, there will be a dance off at the Trancy manner between Claude and (f/d) Faustus. Sebastian is training (f/d) right now as we speak. This dance off determines if I can come back at all after tonight. The master must know that there is a high chance I might never leave the Trancy's again."

Meyrin nodded in determination. "I'll be sure to pass on the message."

The cat smiled before coming as close to a hug as she could to her. "I'd really miss you." she stated before she lept out of her arms and out the cracked door to return to the woods with Finnie.

~Flashback over

Finnie opened his mouth to say something before he shrugged overly dramatic. "I have no idea how the master would know."

(f/d) broke a slight sweat when she looked back the audience of the masters until Sebastian noticed this and leaned down and breathed in her ear, "Just remember what we've worked on." She nodded shakily and the butler and gardener left to join their master, the cat coming out from under the shirt when they made it, but still never left Finnie's shoulders.

Alois smiled wider as the two Faustus demons stood on the outside dance floor. "Let the dance begin!" he laughed as Canterbury played the record player and the dance had begun.

It was a smooth start, the taps and clicks of their heels harmonized rhythmically with each other until (f/d) concentrated too much on her feet. Claude took advantage of this and shot sticky webs at each foot. "(f/d)! Look out!" Sebastian warned.

The dog demon simply lept in the air, avoiding the webs and landed on the tip of the fountain on one foot while spinning on that single toe, pausing her dance for a mere second before leaping back to the ground to continue her dance.

'I need to fight back.' She thought to herself as she shut her eyes and concentrated hard. With a spin, flip, and flick of the wrist, the whole courtyard was filled with hundreds of her identical dummies, all dancing exactly the same way with her leading the motions a millisecond before the clones.

Claude spent what felt like hours attacking each clone and dummy, watching them disappear into (f/h/c) and (f/e/c) dust. Soon, he was down to two left. One of them was the real (f/d), the other was a dummy. With a hop, skip, and leap, he kicked one of them down square on the head, relieved of the dust that coated his shoes. (f/d) looked down, nearly petrified of what she just saw her father do as they continued recycling taps.

The spider demon decided to mix things up and make it snow on her alone. It took only seconds for her taps to be inaudible, which would have her lose because of lack of sounds from her feet, so she spread her wings and zoomed from the snowy square and on the roof, where she continued gracefully.

'Come on, what else could I do?' she asked herself before it struck her and she waved her hand to the ground. Right in front of Claude, black and red dust started to swirl and take the form of Sebastian.

With a smile, the butler watched the spider dodge Clone Sebastian's punches, kicks, and silverware. "That's new." He stated. "I didn't think she'd include me in this dance in that way…is that really what my hair looks like from the back?"

Ciel smiled with a small huff of laughter. "That girl is quite smart. I take it that you taught her this, Sebastian."

"Not this directly, my Lord." He answered with his right hand reaching across his chest. "I simply taught her the basics of the tap dance."

"Sebastian," Meyrin caught his attention. "When this dance is over, are you going to take your position back?"

"Most likely." He answered. "If you recall, the master ordered me to be excused from my butler duties until I recover my daughter, and this dance confirms if she will be restored to her human form or left to remain as a cat. If (f/d) wins, she will be restored. If Claude wins, she will remain."

"Your butler's right, Ciel Phantomhive." Alois stated cruelly. "When Claude wins, not only will your butler's daughter stay as a cat for the rest of her pathetic nine lives, but she will also stay here with no hope of escape. It's Claude's brilliant idea. What do you think?"

"I don't care much for that plan." The Earl answered as he kept his blue eye on Claude, (f/d), and the Clone Sebastian. "It leaves my butler depending on your butler's daughter."

"I know!" he giggled before turning to his maid. "Hannah! More tea!"

Things were going well in (f/d)'s favor with the Clone Sebastian fighting Claude with all the accuracy of the real Sebastian, until Claude took the clone and threw it at her while freezing the roof she danced on. She flicked her wrist to destroy the clone, but the lingering dust caught in her face, distracting her just long enough for her to slip from the roof and face plant the hard ground.

Sebastian widened his eyes and the other Phantomhive servants, including their master, leaned forward in their seats with shocked, wide eyes. Alois simply smiled as he turned to his maid. "Hannah! Get the cat!"

With much struggle, (m/d) clung to Finnie for dear life until their grips slipped and the cat was being taken inside, screaming, struggling, and squirming out of her grip as she cried. "No! Let me go! That was rigged! REMATCH! REMATCH! DADDY! HELP ME!"

(f/d) looked up with tear filled eyes as Claude towered over her with a grinning mask. Leaning over her and adjusting his glasses as she just laid there with shock dripping from her expression, the spider demon simply said two words that made the teen wish she never suggested this competition. "I win."


	14. Not Over Yet

Chapter 13: Not Over Yet

It was small, dark, and cold where Hannah tossed (m/d). The cat looked around in fright as she backed in the corner with her ears pointed down and tail curled around her as meek protection. "Please." (m/d) begged. "Don't do this. What did I ever do to you or your master?"

Hannah looked at her with a cold blue eye and answered, "You were born a Michaelis." With that, she shut the heavy door and turned the lock, leaving the room only lit by a small barred window in the top with only the sound of heavy cries and water droplets as (m/d) curled in herself and hid under her paws.

(f/d) again locked herself in her room. This time, instead of saying anything at all when Claude came by to talk her out; she just lay on her bed and cried. Finnie did the same when he returned to the manner.

Sebastian however, didn't do any of that, still being in exile until the task of saving his daughter was complete. He still had a backup plan, but it still depended another Trancy servant's support. He came up to one of the three triplets (he couldn't tell which one) and sighed. "I know you and your brothers have helped my daughter in the past. Can you do it again?"

The triplet averted his red eyes and scratched his chin before he shrugged. "…Can't you talk?" the demon asked as the triplet only shook his head. "Did the master order you to not talk?" He was answered with a nod.

"Alright, will you help (m/d) escape?" The purple haired demon smiled smally as he pulled out a key. Sebastian smiled back as he exchanged his plan, telling him step by step what to do before the triplet nodded. "Excellent. What's your name again?" When the triplet knocked on a tree, the crow demon smiled wide. "I am now twice in your debt Timber." The triplet smiled and left as Sebastian returned to the woods to watch from the tree line. He has done all he could do for now.

Timber casually walked inside, passing his brothers. "Sebastian just asked if I can let (m/d) out." He whispered to them soft enough so only they could hear.

"Is (m/d) the cat that (f/d) and Claude were fighting over?" Thompson asked.

"Well, either way, we can't do it." Canterbury huffed. "We don't even have the right key."

"Hannah, Claude, and Alois are the only ones with the keys to that room." Thompson agreed.

"I know, but I couldn't tell Sebastian 'no', I mean, we have helped him quite a lot in the past few days." Timber reasoned.

"You couldn't tell him 'no' because the master ordered us to not talk to others at all, that's why we have to whisper, remember?" Canterbury reminded.

"But Timber's right." Thompson stated. "We might as well finish what we started."

With a deep breath, Timber and Thompson walked up to (f/d)'s room. Each one knocked at the same time, telling her who it was. "Come in." she called as Thompson and Timber came in. "Where's Canterbury?" she asked before she got whispers in her ears.

"Canterbury had other things to do."

"Listen carefully if you want your friend back."

"I'm going to take the key to the room from Hannah."

"After that, I'm going to unlock the room and let her out."

"All we need you to do is distract your dad."

(f/d) furrowed her brows. "…What?" she asked.

"I know it's a lot to ask."

"Especially after this afternoon."

"But we can't distract him."

"Otherwise, he'd know something was wrong."

The dog demon returned to her bed. "He'd know something was up the moment he sees me out of this room."

"Maybe not."

"If you talk to him,"

"Act like you want him to tutor you in dancing,"

"Then he might just be happy that you want to improve."

"And he'd happilly help you for the only purpose of fun."

"And family."

"And happiness."

(f/d) sighed before she put on a brave face. "If it'll help, then I'll do it."

The triplets smiled and bowed slightly before they left, one going down the hall to follow Hannah, the other going in a random room to pretend to do chores while (f/d) left her room to search for Claude. "This'll work. This'll work. This'll work." She repeated to herself as she marched down the hall. When she found Claude mixing a batter in the kitchen, she took in a deep breath and came up to him with a smile. "Hey dad!" she stated as happilly as she could muster.

The sound of her voice caused him to freeze and flick his head to her to face her before he sighed and returned to his mixing. "I thought you were upset." He stated. "You seemed depressed after the dancing contest this afternoon."

"Well, I got over it." She stated as convincing as she could. "I actually kinda wanted you to teach me those awesome moves you did when you were dancing AND fighting that clone I threw at you at the same time."

"You faired pretty well yourself in that dance." He complimented. "I didn't expect you to last so long. What exactly happened to you in those woods yesterday?"

(f/d) shrugged. "Sebastian only taught me the basics." She stated. "Apparently, it wasn't enough. I want to learn how to dance from a master like you!"

Hearing this, Claude smiled warmly, much like he did when she was a little girl. "Alright." He answered. "In the meantime, do you want to help me make the master's sweets?"

The dog demon beamed a smile. "Sure~!"

With Claude distracted and blinded by fatherhood, Thompson came up to Hannah, scaring her when she turned around. "You scared me." She breathed before she returned to her cleaning. "What is it that you need?" she asked.

Thompson grabbed the maid's shoulder and gently turned her around to face him. He gently tucked her silvery white hair behind her ear and stroked her cheek lightly. As he slowly and gently placed his other hand on her other cheek, he gently pulled her lips into his own. At first, Hannah tensed from the action, but as Thompson deepened the kiss and made it more lustrous, she melted and shut her eyes, kissing him back and wrapping her arms around his neck to deepen it further.

When Hannah was distracted, Thompson reached in the back of her corset and slipped out the key he needed before hiding it in his own pocket and breaking from the kiss. Hannah smiled when she looked at Thompson's lips and used her thumb to wipe it clean of the purple stain. The dark haired demon's face turned bright red and he sprinted out the room, leaving Hannah giggling at his childish act.

Thompson rejoined Timber, who saw the kiss through the crack in the door and snatched the key from his brother's love sick limp hand. Shaking his head in annoyance, Timber continued down the hall and down the steps. He continued on until he reached a large thick door with a complicated looking lock.

The triplet scratched his head as he looked down at the key in his hand, shifting his eyes between the key and the lock. It seemed like the lock had three keyholes instead of one. Shrugging, Timber preceded to unlock the bolt with the key he had. At the sound of one lock click, (m/d) looked up in wonder. "H-hello?" she called as she sniffled and wiped away tears with her little paws, though she was sure whoever on the other side couldn't hear her. "Who's there?"

The purple haired demon knocked three times to try to tell her his identity. The cat tilted her head in confusion. "…Three identical knocks…triplets?" Timber nodded though she couldn't see him. "One knock 'yes', two knocks 'no'?" she offered as the demon knocked once.

Hearing the 'yes' knock, (m/d) sat on the stone ground. "Why are you here? Did Claude order you to take me to him or something?" Two knocks. "Alois?" Two knocks. "Hannah?" Two knocks. (m/d) thought hard before she muttered, "I would say my dad, but as far as I know, you guys and my dad aren't on the same side." One knock. The cat perked up. "'Yes', you guys aren't on the same side?" Two knocks. "'Yes', it was my dad who sent you?" One knock.

The cat demon smiled as Timber worked on the other locks with the key he had. "What's taking so long?" she asked impatiently. "Don't you have the right key?" Timber hesitated, but knocked once. "How many keys do you have?" she asked as he knocked once to represent the one key he had. "How many keyholes are there?" she asked. Timber knocked once for each keyhole.

He smacked his head as the answer hit him. Three keyholes, three keys, three people with the keys. While one sat in his hand in the previous possession of Hannah Annafellows, there were still two more keys he needed. One from his master, Earl Alois Trancy, and one from the mastermind butler, Claude Faustus.


	15. Secret Help

Chapter 14: Secret Help

(f/d) smiled as she and Claude put the pastries in the oven. "I'll be right back." He stated, ruffling her hair a little as he passed her.

The dog demon smiled as he left, but the smile faded when she saw Timber in the doorway without (m/d). "What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"

"There are three locks on the door." He whispered. "I have the one Thompson got from Hannah, and I got the other from the master's jacket pocket."

"How'd you get close enough?"

"The jacket was hanging on the coat hanger, and the key was slipping out of the pocket as is." He shrugged. "I still need one key."

"Where is it?" she asked.

"Three guesses."

(f/d) slumped when it pieced together in her mind. "My dad has it, doesn't he?" Timber only nodded. The teen sighed and smacked her head. "Right when I thought things couldn't get any harder!"

The purple haired demon looked over on the counter and nudged the dog demon. "What?" (f/d) barked before her attention was brought to the golden shine in the light. She slowly walked over and removed the towel that covered the object. Her eyes widened when she saw the golden key on the counter just waiting to be reunited with its matching keyhole. The teen hesitantly took it in her hand and furrowed her brows. "…That was surprisingly easy."

"What was easy?" came the voice of the butler in the door way. (f/d) quickly hid it behind her back and smiled as Claude looked over at the triplet. "Get back to work." He ordered as the demon left the room, leaving (f/d) alone with Claude. The teen smiled nervously as Claude smiled deceptively kind at her. "Whatever is the matter?" he asked. "Did you already forget that you wanted me to teach you how to dance like a true Trancy Butler?"

"No." she answered.

He smiled wider as he adjusted his glasses and turned back to the door. "Then I suggest we start quickly while the master is occupied."

With (f/d)Angel left alone in the room, and needed to follow her father, she slipped the key in her coat pocket before she left.

When the two made it to a large room for them to practice in, Claude looked over at (f/d). "I just remembered I need to finish something really quickly." He stated as he started to leave the room. "Don't do too much while I'm gone." With that he left.

The second he was out of sight, Timber came in the room as (f/d) just stared at the door her father left in wonder. She gave him the key absent mindedly as she thought aloud, "…Something's not right." The triplet looked at her oddly before following her gaze. "…My dad's up to something…" As the purple haired demon put the remaining key in his pocket, (f/d) drifted to the door. "…I'm going to…follow him." Timber nodded and left for the door.

(f/d) curiously followed her father as he moved through the halls with purpose. Watching him completely pass by the study, master's bedroom, library, office, etc. she only grew more curious of his destination as she tried to fit the miss matching pieces in her head. 'He helps me find (m/d), only to kidnap her. He allows me to keep her as a pet cat, only to take her away and lock her up in an easily escapable shed. He keeps an essential key to her current prison for himself, only to leave it laying around for anyone to pick it up… What is he up to?'

She tried to remember what was happening in each instant. 'He probably only helped look for (m/d) so he could kidnap her.' She concluded. 'As for the pet cat thing, he most likely only did that to keep his cover. At that time, I didn't know that was (m/d), but once I did know, that's when he locked her up.

'But, if he could lock her in a sealed vault, why'd he lock her in an old shed that she was easily able to dig herself out?' That question still stumped her as she wracked her brain and followed him through the red and golden halls as quietly and unnoticeably as she could. She soon saw him march around the outside of the house around the basement area.

She watched carefully as Claude disappeared behind a door after looking around to be sure he wasn't followed, at which time (f/d) hid behind the corner. Once the door closed, she tried to follow him, but she was greeted with two opposing hallways, both of which didn't have Claude as she sighed and returned to the room he left her in.

What her eyes missed completely, same as most other eyes, was the slightly bouncing string of web with its eight legged creator gliding down its path. When Claude was completely positive that he lost any nosy followers, he returned to his human form and continued to follow the web.

He nervously approached his destination, a hole in the ground shielded by bars in a barren part of the garden. His golden eyes looked down at the cat that lay in the room below him, finally asleep from crying consistently. With a deep breath, he looked around once again before sprinkling his hand over the hole. When the cat started to groan and stir, he made a hasty retreat until he heard the groans die down, allowing him to peek in once again.

He couldn't help but smile when he saw the paws grow longer into hands and the whole form itself growing larger to its former size.

Straining his eyes to look at the now furless face, he wracked his brain on what was missing. Soon, it hit him and he pulled out the (f/c) square glasses from his breast pocket and attached it to the end of a slowly extending web as he carefully lowered the spectacles. When they tapped the ground, he cut off the web from his hand and watched as the string fell on the glasses weightlessly.

With a smile, he turned back and walked away, adjusting his glasses once more. "Sugar into Salt, Kitten into Human, Tears into Smiles. That's what makes a good father."

He returned to his daughter in the dancing room. When he got there, he smiled. "Now, shall we begin your dancing lessons?"

Timber scrambled the third key in its lock and pulled the large heavy door open, waking the room's habitant. His red eyes widened as he saw the form push herself from the ground, her black sweater slipping a little from her shoulder. She looked around in a haze, seeing everything blurred together. Squinting her eyes at the door, she asked, "Who's there?" as she backed away.

The triplet looked down at the (f/c) glasses on the floor and picked them up from the stone, ripping away the odd sticky string on it before opening them and slipping them in front of her eyes. (m/d) readjusted her glasses before she looked down at her hand. It was then when she looked at herself more closely. Though it's been weeks possibly, she recognized the red blouse and black pants anywhere.

To be sure it was true, she reached her hands to the top of her head and felt around. There was no point on her head. She bit her lip and smiled. "…Is it true?" she asked as she looked at her hands again. "Am I really back?"

The demon in front of her pulled out a hand mirror and showed her herself in the reflection. With widened, interested (e/c) hued green eyes, she had to touch every facial feature she saw, from her lips to her nose to her cheeks to her eyes to her eyebrows to her forehead before she grabbed chunks of her hair and just squeezed it in spasms. With a growing smile, (m/d) giggled, "I can't believe it! I'm human!"


	16. Father Daughter Reunite

Chapter 15: Father Daughter Reunite

Out of pure joy, (m/d) jumped in Timber's arms before she reexamined herself. "I can't believe this!" she exclaimed. "I guess Claude's powers must've worn off!" She giggled once again before Timber shushed her. "Oh, right." She giggled a little before shutting up.

With that, the triplet peeked his head around both corners and scanned the area before nodding to (m/d), giving her the 'All Clear'. Quietly and sneakily, the two left the stone vault and proceeded through the halls with much caution. They creaked up the steps and Timber walked in the kitchen first. Seeing no one else around, he nodded for the teen to follow and he guided her through the royal golden halls of the mansion.

At some point, they passed by the room where the Faustus demons practiced their dancing. The cat demon smiled a little, seeing her friend so happy in her father's company, until she looked over at the door, causing Claude to look and both demons in the hall to scramble out of sight. "What is it?" the spider asked, still eyeing the door.

"…N-nothing dad." (f/d) answered, shaking her head. "I just thought I saw something. It was probably just the triplets." She stated before smiling at her father. "Back to dancing?"

(m/d) and Timber continued to sneak around the corners. Once they nearly made it outside, they heard a loud, "Hey!" from behind them. Thinking quickly, (m/d) shrank into her cat form and lept into Timber's arms just before Hannah approached them. "Timber? What are you doing with that feline?"

After a second, the triplet leaned in close to the maid's ear and whispered, "I'm only taking her back where she belongs."

"Ah." She nodded. "She escaped the vault I assume." With a sigh, she made a move to take the cat from him. "Well then, let me just-" When Timber refused, Hannah looked at him oddly. "…Do you think you can get her in a more secure place?" she asked as the purple haired demon nodded. To this the woman sighed. "I'll leave you to it then, just don't forget to let Claude know."

He nodded before he continued to leave the manner, the cat still in his arms. "You can probably change back now." He whispered to her.

"And risk someone catching me? No way. I'll wait until we're off this property." She reasoned back.

Timber made it to the entrance to the bone path before he put her down as unnoticeably as possible. (m/d) rushed to the bushes and looked back up at him with a smile. "Thank you." she stated before going deeper in the woods and gradually returning to her human form.

(f/d) looked out the window when her dance lessons with Claude were finished. The spider demon couldn't help but watch her as she gazed at the white fluffy clouds, not enough to block out the sun, but enough to notice their existence. "(f/d), are you alright?" he asked, showing consern in his tone.

"It's just my friend." She sighed. "I don't think anyone deserves to be torn from family, especially her. What did she ever do to you?"

Claude thought for a second before he smiled. "If you want, we can visit her." He stated. "The conditions of the dance competition were only that you cannot free her. I never said you cannot visit with her."

(f/d) looked up at him with wide worried eyes. "…v-visit?"

"In fact," he stated with his smile only growing. "I'll show you to her vault now. Let you inside, allow you to talk with her, play with her, keep her company for an hour or so,"

The dog demon shrunk in her shoulders. She couldn't help but wonder if Timber finished helping (m/d) escape or if he was still working on it. The last thing the teen wanted was to be on her way down there with her father and pass by Timber and (m/d) going the other way. Not only would that be awkward, but that would be like someone tattooing "**GUILTY**" or "**TRAIDER**" on both her's and his foreheads in bold black letters. Before (f/d) could answer, Claude was already standing by the door and looking back at her, waiting for her to join him. With a deep, nervous breath, she followed him and kept her eyes peeled for the demon and cat.

The whole walk there was nerve wracking. Each step she took was very precise and clear, nowhere close to relaxed and shuffled, like she normally would when it was just her and her father. If she were walking on sand, you'd see her foot clean in the sand with no scrape whatsoever; the only way to make it any cleaner, even slightly, was if she simply stood there, and flew up without moving her feet an inch.

Her (e/c) eyes started to redden from the lack of blinks she allowed her eyes to take. She was afraid of what she could miss in one blink as she spun her head around so fast, her (h/l), (h/c), (h/q) hair smacked her face.

(f/d)'s arms were tensely folded in on herself, nearly ripping her tail coat. Her back and shoulders ached from keeping her arms like that, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't relax them at all. Her neck ached from whipping her head around everywhere, as well as from her spine being so tense; still, she didn't have the will power to stretch it out and relax the squashed muscles in there.

The teen's stomach flipped every which way, making her feel sick. She even felt the churning of the organ start to…oh, look; they made it to the vault.

Claude smiled as he stepped aside to show the slightly ajar steal door. As (f/d) pushed it open, her eyes widened when she saw that the room was empty. Raising a brow, she looked up at her still smiling father. "…Dad…" she stated.

The butler only shifted his golden gaze to her, raising his black brows slightly and giving her a little "Hm?" to show she had his attention, but allowed him to bite his cheeks in a failed attempt to keep from smiling wider.

"…Normally, right now, you'd be furious that someone you were keeping prisoner escaped… Why are you smiling like that?" When Claude only bit his lower lip harder and harder, averting his eyes to the ceiling and the floor before returning his eyes to her, it all slowly clicked in place in her head. All the mismatching pieces of the puzzle started to form a picture.

As a reaction, she stomped over to him, ripped off her glove, and slapped him straight across his face, leaving a red mark. Before Claude could react, or even look at her again, she toppled him on a giant hug.

Claude couldn't remember the last time she hugged him like that, it must've been decades at least, but he still hugged her back just as tight, if not tighter. "Why did you do all of that?" (f/d) asked as a salty dampness grew on the butler's coat. "Why go through the trouble of helping when you just end up hurting everything, then go back to helping?"

"I had to." He answered, squeezing her tighter. "I was caught between the master's orders and your happiness." She cried happilly as she clutched his coat in her fists. "If I had completely and openly helped you help the Michaelis', then the master might've broken our contract, and we go another five years, maybe more, without food. I had to act like I was being outsmarted."

(f/d) just smiled as she nodded. "I get it now." She stated. "Thanks…for not choosing a side."

(m/d) wandered through the woods until she finally made it to the Phantomhive manner. At the end of the trail, waiting was none other than Sebastian. "Dad!" she called, catching his attention.

He stopped twiddling his thumbs nervously and snapped his head up. "(m/d)?" he called as he got up from the stump and cautiously approached her. "How did you change back?" he asked after gripping her shoulders and taking in the sight of her opposable thumbs, straight back, long legs, and round face.

"It's really me!" she stated with joy. Hearing that, Sebastian smiled widely and collapsed her in a hug, afraid that if he ever let her go, she'd disappear again. "I changed back this morning." (m/d) choked before the crow demon let up a little on his hug…a little. "I guess Claude's power must've worn off." She stated.

Sebastian knew better. With powers like his, it doesn't just wear off; she could've been a cat forever had he allowed it. With one more squeeze, the butler released her and lightly pushed her in the manner. "Go inside; let everyone know that you're fine. I have something I need to do quickly before I resume my butler duties." (m/d) smiled and complied with her father's request.

The crow demon watched as his daughter ran up to the manner. The first thing she did was zoom through the gardens, crashing into Finnie and squeezing him tight before smacking her lips on his. Though it took a while for him to understand what happened, he returned the kiss in full after moving his large straw hat in just the right angle to block off peeping eyes. Sebastian smiled as he started down the road to the Trancy's.

When he reached his destination, he knocked on the door politely; answered by the very two demons he came to see. "(f/d), Claude, there is something I'd like to say to both of you that I doubt you wish for your master to hear."

"Master Alois is having his snack with Hannah." (f/d) stated. "You can say what you want right here."

The visiting demon nodded before turning to the teen. "I'm sorry I doubted your loyalty to my daughter." He stated. "I just thought you should know that (m/d) is now happily safe in the Phantomhive manner." The dog demon smiled at the success before he continued. "As a reward for your actions, you may come to see her and visit whenever you'd like for as long as you'd like."

(f/d) smiled and nodded happily to the butler. "Thank you, sir."

The crow demon nodded and turned to her father. "Claude, I know it was you who returned her to her human form, giving her all her previous demon and reaper abilities. For that, I thank you." Sebastian bowed a little in thanks before he sighed. "Unfortunately, all I have to show my gratitude is to wipe the slate clean between us."

Claude smiled and bowed his head slightly. "That is already more than I could ever ask for."

As Sebastian began his journey to return to his butler duties, Claude and (f/d) closed the door with smiling faces. They saw the dawn together as co-workers, but watched the dusk as a family.

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